How to Win Over Berry
by Killbot2000
Summary: The game is only the beginning.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay I started writing this when I first saw the promo for episode 1x08, so this is kind of just a different approach to what happens I guess.  
Sorry about the name and the description, I'm not very good with those. :P**

**I don't own anything.**

Date another Jewish girl?  
His mom was crazy. Sure, he loved her, but really the last thing on his mind when trying to get a girl in the sack was asking her about her religion. He didn't care, as long as she put out.  
He pushed that thought out of his mind and figured this one time he could do something to make his mom happy.

---

Walking through the halls of school he tried to scan out potential girlfriends. After throwing his signature smirk to some girls chatting in the hallway, he realized he had a problem.

Of course he could get any girl he wanted, but he didn't know how he was supposed to puck out the Jewish girls from the... well, not Jewish girls.

'This is ridiculous' he thought to himself, already giving up.

With that he just looked straight forward and kept moving down the hall not looking at anyone else until he heard a familiar voice.

"Puck, wait up" it was Finn, his best friend since forever.

He wasn't in the mood to talk but he figured Finn might be a little suspicious if he ignored him.  
Puck stopped and turned around, waiting for Finn to catch up.  
He spoke up after Finn reached him and started walking again.

"Hey dude, what's up?" hoping that Finn would give a nice simple answer.

"Not much, a little stressed, but today just feels like it will be great!" Finn replied, still looking ahead with that goofy dazed smile of his.  
Puck wanted to laugh at Finn's random enthusiasm, but he decided against it and replied.

"That's great, man. The best of luck to you with that-"  
Finn could hear the sarcasm in his voice and cut him off.

"Don't you feel it? There's like... something in the-..."

Puck looked at Finn waiting for him to finish his sentence but noticed his goofy smile had gotten wider and he was waving to someone.  
Puck looked in his line of direction, Berry? He didn't understand Finn's fascination with this girl.  
She was a geek, way out of their league.

"Maybe Berry put something in your drink?" he said jokingly. Well, half joking. In this opinion that girl was nuts and he wouldn't put it past her.

Puck realized Finn wasn't even paying attention to him when he threw him a small wave and walked over to Rachel Puck rolled his eyes and walked past them. But what he did know is that he wished he had a slushy to throw at the both of them, that would wake them out of this school girl crush. Shaking this thought from his mind, he stopped at his locker and threw his back pack in there, only taking what he needed just in time for the warning bell to ring and everyone started running to class

------

Glee club rehearsal took place right after school. He thought about skipping int, but figured if anything he could just find a chair in the back of the room and doze off. But he knew that was very unlikely, seeing as he probably would be expected to sing.  
He wouldn't admit it [not even to himself] but Glee gave him a sense of pride, nothing like football could do for him.  
Almost anyone can play football but it takes it takes someone with talent to be able to sing... and play guitar.  
He smirked to himself, thinking about how awesome he is as he pushed open the doors to the music room.  
Some of the geeks were already sitting in the room huddled around each other, Kurt gave him a little wave when he saw him and Puck replied with a nod and sat in the chair farthest away from them.

Everyone else slowly trickled in, besides Quinn who had been missing school ever since Ms. Sylvester and that creepy guy outed her pregnancy. Mr. Schue was the last one in as he walked past everyone handing them respectively their sheet music. Puck grabbed his own and started skimming over it, he noticed something was off. Schuester must have given him the wrong sheet music. He looked over at Finn who was staring at his own music with the same look of shock on his face.  
He was about to speak up about it when Mr. Schue started talking.

"Today, we're going to switch things up, Puck and Rachel will be singing lead on this one. It was going to be Quinn, but in her absence, I think Rachel can handle this one."

That's when Rachel spoke up, "Mr. Schue, though I have no problem filling in for Quinn, I feel that Finn's voice is the be-"

Mr. Schue cut her off "Rachel, please. Like I said we're trying something new, now please, Noah, Rachel, come to the front"

Puck got up, wanting to laugh at the look on both Rachel & Finn's faces. He gave her a smirk, hoping to throw her off when when she walked towards him, but surprisingly she kept her gaze and stopped right in front of him.

And then he saw it.  
It was like god parted the clouds and put a spot light right on her. Her hair blowing in non existent wind, as her necklace shown bright.  
Rachel Berry was a Jew.

**The first chapter is pretty short, and so is the next one, but don't worry they do get longer. Thanks for reading. :]**


	2. Chapter 2

There was something wrong with the world when Berry was the only Jewish female at their school.

This was the thought going through his mind as he walked out of school to his truck. His mom was seriously nuts, it's not her fault. She probably didn't realize that Berry was his best -no- only option. He laughed thinking about they would never work out  
A. She probably didn't put out, and that was a problem for him.  
B. She was too enamored with Finn to realize that there are single guys at the school.  
Finn... Finn needed to be awaken from his daydream involving a perfect life with both Quinn and Rachel. He has a baby to think about, it wasn't technically his, but he thinks it is so he should take more responsibility rather than pinning for Rachel.  
He stopped himself from thinking about the baby, it was hard but he tried not thinking about it. There was nothing he could do about it anyways.

He decided to just go for it, as much as it pained him. It would help Finn come to his sense, it would make his mom happy, and well, he might have fun breaking her heart.

Once he got inside his house he sat down at his desk, pulling out his notebook and a pen, thinking about how he would make Berry his.  
"I think I might be crazier than my mother." he said to himself, never in a million years did he think he could be trying to win over Berry, he victim of his slushies.

'Oh' and his head shot down to his paper, writing his 1st step out.

_1. Stop throwing slushies at Berry_

he looked down at the paper triumphantly as if he just came up with something brilliant.  
Proud of himself, he shut his notebook and decided he needed something to eat.

---

Later that night he sat back on his desk, so bored the thought of homework was on his mind when he spotted the notebook and flipped it open.  
Looking at his one sentence he decided it wasn't good enough. Winning her over was going to be harder than not giving her a daily slushy facial.  
In reality, he should be able to give her a wink and watch her melt into a puddle of goo at his feet. But this was Rachel Berry.  
He had no idea what she was into besides singing and Finn.

_2. Put more effort into Glee club_

Rolling his eyes, he knew putting effort into something,especially something as nerdy as glee club was going to ruin his laid back 'I don't give a shit' attitude.  
With that thought he scribbled down his next idea,

_3. Be nicer to Gleeks_

Well so far he is going to have to do a 180 flip on his personality. But it will be worth it, he decided.  
He laughed out loud at how ridiculous this all seemed. He decided to think of it more as a game, this way he wouldn't get distracted thinking about his prize being an over bearing nut case named Rachel.

**Again, so sorry about the shortness. ****The next chapter will be a lot longer, I promise!**  
**I got a lot of alerts after I posted the first chapter, which made me smile! Thank you to those who reviewed too! :] **


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm uploading this chapter a little early since chapter 2 wasn't that long, and I'm not sure if I will have time to add a chapter tomorrow. Enjoy :]**

----

As he walked into the music room the next day he saw Finn talking to Mr. Schue and then started walking to the door where Puck stood.

"Where are you going?"

"Quinn's still home, sick. I thought I should check up on her."

Puck didn't say anything else because he was too busy thinking about turning around and walking out with Finn.

Too late- Mr. Schue spotted him and called him over.

"Noah, you did a really great job with your solo yesterday. I'm a little shocked."

Puck rolled his eyes

"No, I'm serious Noah, you have an amazing potential. If you keep it up, there might be more leads in store for you."

Puck restrained himself from rolling his eyes again and instead thanked him, then turned to look for an empty seat, _'Great' _hethought to himself. Just what he need was more work. He saw two empty seats, one in the back and one next to Rachel Berry. She seemed to be looking for someone... Finn. Duh. That was _his_ empty seat next to Rachel. And then it came back to him-

_'2. Put more effort in Glee club'_

How could he forget his little game? He decided that it was perfect, Finn missing Glee, he's got the lead. Could this plan be anymore perfect? Well, it wasn't really a plan yet, but he was getting there. One step at a time. And with that he plastered a smirk on his face and walked over to Rachel and planted himself in the seat right next to her, not taking his eyes off of her the whole time.

_'Uhm... What is her deal?'_ he thought. She didn't even look over at him, she was still staring at the door as if Finn was going to run back in and serenade her with a song about how much he loved her and wanted to make babies with her too. Pathetic.

"Hey Berry" he spoke up, hoping to break her out of her daze.

She looked over at him as if he was getting cooties on poor little Finn's chair. He finally caught her eye and they both stared, daring the other one to back down. It was Rachel who broke.

"Puck." was all she said in a cold voice, and turned away from him.

Okay, she is impossible. How is he supposed to get her to even speak to him if she wouldn't say more than 1 word to him? Maybe he could apologize for... well, everything. Nope. Puck does not say sorry. Maybe put on a little charm, hmm... say something like Finn would say.

"Today feels like the perfect day, you know?"

She looked at him oddly out of the corner of her eye, obviously surprised he decided to speak up more.

"Don't you feel it? There's like something in the-"

"Hey guys," Mr. Schue interrupted him. He didn't mind, he didn't know what word Finn would have used there anyways.

"today we are going to work on choreography for the song from yesterday, but before that I have to ask a little favor from all of you."

Puck rolled his eyes, he was willing to put more effort into Glee, but how much of this shit could he take?

"I want ideas for a new mash up! I want everyone to pick a song they would like to perform, rehearse it and perform it next week during our meeting. Think you're up to it?"

Puck looked over to see Rachel with a huge smile across her face. She looked like she was going to explode. Puck leaned over a little, but not too close, and whispered,

"This is exciting isn't it?" trying to sound sincere with a fake smile on his face. She looked at him, her smiling not falling.

"It is! I have so many options to show off my vocal range, I don't know what I should choose! Maybe I could do my own mash up for the mash up? That might be a little much, what do you think?"

His eyes widen in surprise that she replied, he opened his mouth but before he could say anything Mr. Schue interrupted him _again_ after the other whispers died down.

"Okay, everybody up!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------

He felt so odd being the lead, not the singing part- but the dancing. The first couple of times they practiced, he hated it every time he had to reach his arm out to her, like some cheesy love fest, but the more they practiced he realized it was nice not being in the background stuck with everyone else. The smile on her face when she sang was nice too, like she really got into it.  
Wait, what? What was he thinking? He suddenly dropped the smile he realized was plastered on his own face, and tried to think more about the dance steps. Which apparently threw off his beat because Mr. Schuester had just called "Cut."

Rachel looked over at him, but he couldn't read the look on her face. Was she annoyed that he messed up? ...What did he care?

"Okay guys, I think I'm going to cut practice a little early today, I can see some of you are getting tired. Great work today, I hope you keep practicing, and remember the mash up song!"

Everyone started gathering their things to leave, Puck bent over to pick up his backpack from under his seat and when he stood back up he saw Rachel standing in front of him with that big grin on her face.  
Stopping himself from making a holy-shit-you-freak-me-out face, he spoke up.

"Hi." Now looking at her very oddly, wondering if she'll reply or just keep... is she blushing?

She cleared her throat a little, "I didn't realize what a good performer you are!"

He gave a small smile to this, he loves praise but didn't want to look like he cared too much about what she thought.

"Yeah, it hard to show off my many talents when I get stuck with the rest of the clone back up dancers."

Rachel frowned a little a this. "The background **_singers_** are just as important- okay that's a lie- are almost as importa-"

Puck decided to cut her off this time.

"Yeah, thanks, I get it."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. Well not that I should care, you offend me almost every day... rude comments, slushy attacks-"

"Hey, I haven't done that in awhile."

This time she rolled her eyes at him, "I would hardly call 1 week, _awhile_."

"It's a start, right?" He flashed her a real smile this time, and that put a smile on her face, but then she looked away fast, he noticed she was blushing again.

Okay, so this would be easy... that thought made him excited. Maybe a little too excited, and he reminded himself that she was Berry, and this was a game.  
He gestured his arm in the direction of the door when he realizes almost everyone else had left. She pulled out the handle of her backpack and started rolling it towards the door, as he followed closely behind.  
The awkward silence was, well, awkward, but before he could speak up Rachel did.

"Do you know why Finn wasn't in rehearsal today?"

Goddammit! Really?? What is so great about Finn?

"He has a girlfriend you know... and she's pregnant.. with his baby." The look on Rachel's face fell as she turned to face her locker. He stopped instinctively to wait for her.

"I know." she was so quiet he almost wasn't sure if he heard her correctly.

"Can I ask you a question?"

She just kind of looked over at him after he spoke, without turning to face him or look directly in his eyes.  
He took that for a yes,

"Well... uhm" he struggled for words because he didn't want to sound too blunt and make her more upset... for the game of course. He reminded himself he didn't actually care if she was upset.

"Why are you being nice to me?" It was Rachel who in turn asked him a question.

"I... uh.." struggling for words again, he was sure he sounded like an idiot.

"I'm just, well, I realized I actually like Glee... now that I have a lead. I just think it would be better if we got along... for the performance"

"Though I still think this random politeness is odd and maybe not sincere...-"

His face fell a bit, what did she mean not sincere? Shit- was she on to him? Wait, how would she even know? Maybe she reads minds..

"-I can agree to accept your... whatever it is." she said nonchalantly, while taking out some out some of her books.

He turned to look at her locker, studying the pictures of her and her dads on it. And then to what's inside her locked. He noticed an extra shirt, and skirt tucked away from the numerous books.

"What are those for? Do you really change your outfit during school?"

She slammed her locker shut, all of the sudden angry "Only when my current outfit is doused with the slushy of your choice" she started to storm away angrily, and he followed her. Before he realized what he was doing, he reached his hand out to lightly grab her arm. She kept walking, but he didn't let go.

"Listen,... you don't need those anymore. I promise. I mean, go ahead and leave them in your locker if you don't belie-"

"I will"

He was getting annoyed.

"Would you stop for a second?" And she did. He realized he said that kind of harshly, but he wanted to make this clear-

"I promise you, you will not get a slushy in the face from me ever again"

She looked up at him, and he looked back, not breaking contact so she knows he was serious.

"Well even if you don't break your promise, who's to say you won't just turn around and get one of your jock buddies to throw one at me?"

"Berry! I will never have anything to do with you and slushies again." And then he was the one who started walking again, and she caught up with his pace, walking along side of him.

"Do you mean you won't have anything to do with slushies _and_ me together, or slushies _or_ me? Because, it would be hard to not have anything to do with each other when we are the lead vocals in one of the most important songs of our performance"

Her talking annoyed him, yet he caught himself smiling. Again.  
Puck was a man of very little words, so when Berry did nothing but blabber on, it meant he didn't have to say much to keep her entertained. So this is how Finn did it. Probably daydreamed about her naked while she talked on and on about nothing. Hmm... Rachel Berry naked... he woke out of his daydream fast. He is going crazy.

"Berry-"

"My name is Rachel."

He looked at her, she was still facing forward. He sighed unnoticeable to her and continued,

"Rachel," this made her smile.

"You talk a lot." she looked up at him offended, about to speak up again when he cut her off before she could.

"I don't mind it." with this he smiled, and opened the front doors of the school and turned towards her.  
She was just smiling up at him, then realizing he was holding the door for him she walked passed. Wow, oddly enough it felt... normal to be polite towards her.

As they walked towards the parking lot, she turned and starting walking the opposite way.

"Uhm, Ber- Rachel, the parking lot is this way."

"I have to wait for a ride from my dad"

"Oh," he was thinking of offering her a ride, but decided that might be too much, too soon.

"I'll see you around."

"Bye, Puck."

And with that he turned and started walking to his car. Maybe he should have offered a ride, with her paranoia she'd probably think he would kidnap her or something... oh well.  
He got to his car, and pulled out of the parking space, he slowed down when he drove past her sitting on the bench and waved at her, she smiled and shyly waved back. He smirked with satisfaction and drove off.  
This is going to be good.

---

**See, now that was a little longer than the first two. ;P**

**Thanks again for the many story alerts, and especially to **** those who take the time to review****! Keep them coming! :]  
**


	4. Chapter 4

A couple days later, Puck decided to show up early for Glee, maybe Berry would be around for him to... woo? He didn't know what word he was thinking of, but when he got closer to the door, about to turn the handle he saw Finn and Rachel through the window, and he could hear them arguing.

"You've been missing rehearsal a lot, I just wanted to make sure everything is oka-"

"My girlfriend is pregnant, Rach. No, It's not okay, I'm not okay. And I'm tired of people always nagging me about it." Finn said harshly.

Puck could see Rachel straighten up, putting up her brave front.

"Finn, I was not nagging, I was... I thought that you and I were friends. And friends care about each other, obviously you have a problem with that... " She looked down

"Rach," Finn stepped a little closer to Rachel, obviously feeling bad that he was getting upset with her when it wasn't her fault.

"We are friends, but it's more.. you know... complicated than that." Finn reached out and put his finger under Rachel's chin lifting her head to face his.

Puck felt something, anger? jealousy? Nah, probably just mad that Finn was making his plan harder to pull off. And with that he decided he had seen enough, and twisted open the door handle violently, making sure they could hear his presence as he walked into the room.  
Finn and Rachel jumped back fast.

"What's up Finn? Berry?" Acknowledging them both. He smiled as if nothing was wrong, and he noticed they were both just looking around awkwardly.

"...yeah... So, uhm, Rachel I was hoping that we could go over the chorus dance steps a bit, you know, for _our_ lead." With that he looked over at Finn giving him a knowing smirk.

"I'd love to!" Puck looked back at Rachel as she said this, and notice she had brightened up a little. Who knew performing could make someone so... happy.

She walked over to him, not noticing Finn roll his eyes, which Puck did notice. She put in the CD to play the recording they use for dance rehearsals, as Finn goes and sits in the back, pulling out a book from his bag. Yeah right, like he was actually going to ready _Chemistry 101_.

Puck was so happy he felt like he could dance up a storm. He was getting a weird satisfaction seeing Finn a little jealous.

She fast forwarded to right before the chorus began, and they got into position where dance steps started. Standing a foot away from each other, facing the wall with their backs to Finn. Finn wasn't even hiding the fact that he was watching them anymore.  
The chorus started up, and they both turned to each other, reaching out as they walked in a circle around one another. He noticed she was humming to the song, as if she was trying to refrain from singing it. He wouldn't mind if she started singing though, and even though he didn't [and probably would never] tell her that, she started singing anyways, quiet at first, but the farther a long the song got, the more she got into it until she was singing in a normal voice.

This made him smile as he grabbed her hip with one hand, and her hand with the other, spinning her out, and then back in, he grasped her hand and intertwined their fingers as they sang the last note of the chorus. He smirked when he noticed her gazing into his eyes as if she was still caught in the moment of the song. Rachel pulled away slowly [and kind of awkwardly] and went to stop the cd.

"I think you did a great job, Puck! We might need to go over the first verse a little more, your footing needs a little work, but I think after a couple more rehearsals you'll be perfect!" She said this, her eyes smiling.

"Yeah, Puck. Didn't really seem like you needed much help." Both Puck and Rachel turned to see Finn still sitting in the corner with a glare in his eye. They both had forgotten he was there. Oops.

Neither of them replied, and Finn just stared back until Kurt and Mercedes walked in the room breaking the silence.

"What is going on in here?" Mercedes whispered to the other, sensing the tension.

"I don't know, but I can't say I'm not curious." Kurt whispered back.

The Cheerios and the other football players walked through the door, followed by Tina, Artie and Mr. Schue.

"Okay guys, find a seat!"

Rachel walked over to the front row with the intention of not sitting by either boy and sat down. Then she realized Puck followed her over and sat next to her again. Both of them kept their eyes forward until they heard a book bag get dropped next to the seat on the other side of Rachel. Finn sat down with force, and crossed his arms and stared forward. Puck chuckled at that, making both of them look at him.

"I just want to remind everyone that I'm expecting your mash up song to be ready by our next rehearsal."

Rachel's face brightened again, as she turned to Finn excitedly.  
"Finn, do you know what song you are going to do?" Puck rolled his eyes at this, and Finn smiled, but fumbled for words. It was obvious he hadn't even looked for a song yet.

"I know what song I'm going to perform." Rachel and Finn both turned to face Puck after he said that. Rachel still smiling, and Finn glaring a bit that he took Rachel's attention from him.

"So... what is it?" Rachel asked with that cute smile still plastered on her face. Cute? There is no way he just referred to her as cute...

"It's a surprise" he gave her the most flirtatious smile he could muster. But he was lying, he hadn't even started looking for a song either. He'd been too busy thinking about this plan of his, thinking about... _Berry_, that his solo performance was forgotten about.

Mr. Schue started blabbing on again and Rachel & Finn turned back and listened.  
Puck decided he would try something, it would probably end with him either getting slapped or punched, but hey it was worth a try.

He fake yawned and stretched his arms over his head, bringing his left arm down on the back of Rachel's chair. She was sitting on the edge of the chair, so she didn't even notice.  
But Finn did. As soon as he saw Puck's arm come down he glared at it, wanting to rip his arm out of his socket. When Finn looked up at Puck, Puck wiggled his eyebrows suggestively which made Finn's glare deepen.

"Noah. Finn." Mr. Schue calling his name snapped him out of his staring contest with Finn, and he dropped his arm off the back of Rachel's chair before she would notice, and looked at Mr. Schue waiting for him to finish.

The rest of Glee rehearsal went by pretty fast, they just went over a couple of new songs but nothing important. When it was over, Puck instinctively gathered his belongings fast, and zipped out the door, used to being the first one out. He realized he needed to grab his bag from his gym locker, but he wanted to talk to Rachel a bit to get things in motion. Since she was normally the last one out he figured if he went fast he could probably catch her before she left.

-

Gym bag in hand, he was heading out of the locker room when he saw Finn standing in the doorway.

"I got to talk to you, man" Finn said a little stern

"Dude, I don't have time for girl talk, I've got to-" Finn moved in his way of the door. Puck dramatically dropped his bag on the floor and took a step closer to Finn.

"Fine, what?" Puck spat out.

"What are you doing with her?" Finn asked bluntly.

"Who?"

"Don't give me that crap, you know who. I don't want you messing with her fee-"

"You don't own her. Who says I'm messing with her?"

"I know you are, you're Puck. I've known you since we were kids, you think I'm not going to notice you flirting with the victim of your pranks for the last couple of years?"

"What, like you were an angel to her before you joined Glee?"

"Well, no... but-"

"Then I don't see how this is any different." He waited for Finn to respond, but he didn't say anything.  
Puck grabbed his bag, and brushed past Finn out of the locker room, hoping he still had time to catch Rachel before she left.

He was walking down the hall and saw Rachel standing at her locker, she looked like she was contemplating how many book she could fit in her bag.

He was about to call out 'Berry' but stopped himself before he did, Finn seemed serious about her, and he really needed to up the charm.

"Hey, Rachel," She looked up from her locker and smiled up at him.

"Hi, Puck!"

He didn't know where he was going with this conversation at all. Hoping she would just burst out in a monologue so he wouldn't have to think of anything. He leaned against the lockers next to hers when he got there, trying to look cool. Trying? Please, he is the man.

"I'm so excited about Glee club tomorrow! Getting to see everyone's performances, I know mine will probably be the best, no offense-"

"None taken." He smirked at her, and she blushed when he interrupted her. He really wasn't offended, he just wanted to say something so it seemed like he was listening. And the thing is, he actually was.

She started back up again "I'm sorry, It's just... I've been practicing at least 3 hours every night since announced the project!"

"Wow, I bet your performance will be perfect then!" and he truly meant that, who gives up 3 hours of every day to sing alone, the same song, over and over again? He was really going to have to work on a song tonight, probably for about 3 hours... with breaks in between of course. But he had to show her, and prove to everyone that he has it in him.  
She looked away with a big smile on her face, he could tell she was blushing hard. That made him smile.

"So, can I walk you to the parking lot?"

She looked back up at him and nodded her head excitedly. She was pulling books out of her locker and shoving them in her backpack, he gazed inside and notice her extra clothes were still in there. That pissed him off a bit. He reached past her head and grabbed the clothes from her locker.  
Rachel looked up at him confused and a little annoyed.  
_What is her problem?_

"Didn't I tell you, you didn't need these?" He held them up in one hand, he was sure she could see he was offended.

"Give me my clothes back, Puck" she said sternly. It was kind of cute the way she spoke when she was angry. He smiled and walked closer to her, trying to make her falter.

"I will if you promise they won't go back in your locker." there was a pause before she replied, "I promise." and he handed them back to her, and watched her stuff them in her already full backpack. She couldn't even zip it up all of the way because the sleeve of the sweater was sticking out.  
He thought quick on his feet,

"Here, let me take that for you." And he pulled up the handle of her pink roll-y backpack and started wheeling it down the hall and she followed next to him. Not talking because she was too busy trying to hide the huge smile across her face. He's good.

"So, I think you'll really like my song tomorrow too." He still didn't know what song he was doing, but he knew it would be good.

She looked up at him smiling.  
"I'm sure I will, Puck. You are a really great singer. And... well, you play guitar, right? Are you putting that in the performance? I was thinking of playing the piano with my song, but I didn't want my pianist experience to over shadow the range in my voice. I bet Artie will play guitar... maybe Finn will play the drums?"

Fuck. Him again. It was like he got so far, just to be forgotten again. All because of fucking Finn.

"Yeah... maybe."

They walk through the front doors, and stop by the bench that Rachel sits at to wait for her dads.  
He placed her backpack next the bench and looks at her.

"So, this is your stop." He looks down at her as she checks the time on her phone and sighs.

"Everything... okay?"

"Yeah, it's just... it's nothing. I'm going to head back inside to wait for my dad"

Puck was confused. Maybe she wasn't looking at the time, maybe Finn was calling her, or texted her to come back inside. This made him push a little further.

"What, did you forget something?"

"Oh no, it's just, today is Thursday. My dad works late and won't be here to pick me up for another hour"

"Come on" he pulled the strap back out of her backpack, and nodded his head to the parking lot.

"Where are you going with my backpack?" She said, not following.

"Rachel. Are you serious?"

She looked at him blankly.

"I'm going to give you a ride home so you don't have to sit in an empty school for an hour. Let's go."

She looked at him hesitantly, then started to follow behind.  
Once they got to his truck, he unlocked the passenger door and put his gym bag and her backpack in the backseat, and then left the door open for her to climb in.  
He went around to the other side, and got in and started the engine. He glanced over at her, she looked nervous, uncomfortable.

"It's just a truck, no need to be scared"

Surprisingly she didn't reply, so he spoke up again.

"So, where am I going?"

She explained the directions, and he headed out of the parking lot. The car ride was awkward and silent for the first 10 minutes, but what did he expect? It's not like they had much in common, besides Glee.

"So, do you go to the football games?"

"Uhm... no? I mean, no. I've never really been a sports fan, and I probably wouldn't understand it if I tried to watch. It seems pointless... I mean, the game isn't pointless. Me trying to watch a game that I-"

"You should come to our next game." Puck kept his eyes on the rode, but could see her look over in surprise as he said this.

"Uhm... I don't know."

"Ah, come on! The majority of the Glee club is made of Cheerios and football players, you can invite the rest of the Gleeks and support us."  
When he said this, he hope she didn't say anything about how she would go because Finn, or some shit. Luckily, she didn't.

"I could talk to them during rehearsal tomorrow and see if they want to go. I'm sure they'd at least want to support Kurt. It would be nice, New Directions all brought together for the love of a sport, and nothing to do with Glee. It's like we were all... friends."  
She was kind of depressing sometimes, did she really not have that many friends?

"Yeah, okay, sounds great."

"It's that one, on the right." She pointed towards it

To be honest, he knew where her house was. Him and the rest of the football team used to egg it whenever they got drunk and were bored. He didn't tell her this though, because reminding her of something like that lessened his chances with her.

He pulled into the driveway and put the car in park.

"Well it's been fun," He smiled at her, and she smiled back,

"Thank you Puck, I do appreciate your gratitude." she opened the door and slid out of the truck.

"See ya around, Rachel."

"Goodbye, I can't wait to hear your surprise song at rehearsal tomorrow!" With that, she slid out the door and shut it. He saw pink out of the corner of his eye and realized she had left her backpack. He opened his door and shouted,

"Wait, Rachel..." he jumped out of the truck and jogged to the other side. Rachel froze where she was standing and looked at him with a weird dazed look in her eyes.

"Yes, Puck?" she squeaked out. Could she be any cuter when she was nervous? He stopped in front of her, trying to read her face. She gulped. What did she think he was going to do?

"You, uh, you left your backpack" he turned towards his truck and opened the passenger door, pulling it out from the backseat and carried it over to Rachel. He set it on the ground and pulled out the handle for her to use. Their fingers brushed when he handed it to her, and he felt a weird tingle in the tips of his fingers. What? No, he didn't.

"Thank you- again, Puck."

"Yeah, anytime." He wanted to make a move, he felt like she would go for it.

Before he had a chance, she gave a small little wave, and turned rolling her backpack towards the door.

"Bye, Rach." He called out, deciding to use the nickname Finn used on her.

She turned around and smiled at him, cheeks turning redder by the minute.

He was a little pissed that he didn't get to make a move, but he felt satisfied enough that he got those clothes out of her locker.

---

After getting home that day he pulled out his notebook. Looking over the list he decided it was time to add more now that he's made some progress.

He realized today that using that girly charm Finn had about him made Rachel blush more than he had ever seen anyone blush. He liked that.

_4. Use Finn's charm_

He glanced over Finn's name, glaring at it as if it was actually him. Dammit, why did he have to act just like _him_. He wish he could make Rachel melt with some perv comment he was used to using on any other girl.

Now that he thought about it, he could be charming. Now was not the time to doubt his womanizing abilities. He didn't have to act like Finn to get any other girl, he shouldn't have to for Rachel. He was going to do it his way. He erased #4 and replaced it with

_4. Be charming_

There. His mind starting wondering to friday night's football game, and tomorrow's solo song.

_5. Win her over with a song_

He was brilliant, of course. He decided he would do something like that after building up excitement for his 'surprise' song he would play. He needed to find something good, something she would appreciate that wasn't girly. There is no way he is singing a chick song.  
He would think of something later, for now he decided to add more.

_6. Impress her at the football game._

Yeah, he was good at football. Maybe she wouldn't understand the game, but it's easy enough to understand when the crowd starts cheering when he scores a touchdown.

And that was all he had for now. He looked down and saw his guitar out of the corner of his eye. He decided he better start practicing if he was going to be good by tomorrow.

**----**

**I just want to say when they intertwine their fingers when they are practicing the chorus, it's supposed to be a part of the choreography. Ugh, I know, I'm horrible. I'm not a dancer and I have no idea how to write it without it sounding... weird-ish. Hopefully that part was bearable! **

**Thanks so much for the reviews! **:]


	5. Chapter 5

Walking through the halls after school the next day Rachel was in a daydream, you probably could have thrown 10 slushies at her and it wouldn't break this trance she was in. Finn. Puck. Two of the most popular football players, talented performers, and she had a crush on them both.  
She couldn't help it! A man with a voice is the biggest turn on for her, and when she performs with a lead whose voice can match her own, it sends tingles down her spine.

She got to her locker and opened it, gazing at the spot where her extra clothes used to sit neatly. She trusted Puck with this, and she hoped he was telling the truth or... or.... or she would steal his football jersey to wear around all day. Yeah, he'd be embarrassed that she was wearing something of his, and everybody knew it. He would probably throw a fit. She started thinking about how cute and perfect she would look in Puck's jersey when someone came up behind her.

"Rachel, I haven't seen you around all day!"

She looked behind her to see Finn smiling down on her with that adorable grin of his, it was hard not to smile back at him. He was just so cute sometimes she wanted to reach up and hug him.

"Hi Finn, well we don't have many classes together so I normally don't see you around until rehearsal..."

"Oh, yeah."

"So, today I'm going to ask Mercedes, Tina, and Artie if they will accompany me to Friday night's football game!" She looked up at him excitedly. He looked a little confused though.

"You're going to the game Friday?"

"Yeah... I'm going with Merce-"

"Hey, Rach." Puck had just walked up unnoticed to Rachel and Finn until he spoke up. Rachel couldn't keep her smile from widening when she saw him.

"Hello, Puck, I was just discussing with Finn your idea about everyone going to the football game!" she said excitedly.

Finn looked over at Puck, "Oh, this was your idea. I should have known."

Puck smiled at him "What, do you have a problem with everyone hanging out? It just seemed like... fun" Puck was being a little over-dramatic, he didn't care if everybody showed up, mostly just Rachel.  
Rachel's face fell after he said this, realizing the intent in Finn's words.

"Rachel, that's not what I meant, you know that." She refused to raise her eyes to meet Finn's gaze.

"Then what did you mean,...Finn?" Puck blurted out, egging him on.

"Puck, I wasn't talking to you. And until you interrupted our conversation, she wasn't talking to you either." Puck backed off a bit, he wanted to piss him off more, but he also didn't want to loose his friendship... over Berry.

"Finn, I am going to the football game whether you feel comfortable with that or not. Besides, who says I'll be watching you anyways?" Rachel felt proud for standing up for herself in front of him. She noticed Puck start to smile when she said this... did he think... she hoped he didn't assume she would be watching him when she made that comment. She just meant... ugh forget it.  
Rachel grabbed the sheet music out of her locker and then closing it. Walking away in a hurry so neither boy would catch up with her before she got into the music room.

-

As Rachel walked away he couldn't help but stare after her. He thought about catching up to her but figured he'd see her soon enough in rehearsal. Instead he turned to Finn.

"She's a firecracker, huh?" Puck smiled at Finn.

"Don't." Finn said coldly. Puck's smile dropped.

"Don't what?"

"I don't know what you're doing, but... it has to stop."

"Listen to yourself, man, you aren't making any sense"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Puck! I want you to stop messing with Rachel, it's... it's not cool." Finn looked down almost defeated.

"I told you, I'm not messing with her." Was this a lie? He didn't know anymore. Finn looked into his eyes searching for something, maybe to see if he was lying. Finn spoke up.

"She's just... she's more fragile than she let's on. And there is just something... something about her." Puck was tired of listening to Finn talk about Rachel.

"Yeah, okay, I get it. But... you can't take care of her," Finn just looked at him after he said this so he continued, explaining himself.

"You've got your own girlfriend to take care of, you've got a baby on the way to take care of. Your girlfriend has skipped school since Sylvester outed your mishap and your're here... flirting with Berry... Maybe you're the one who should back off." Puck looked up at Finn, a serious look in his eyes. Finn backed down.

"You're right. I'm sorry... I just, everything is going wrong-" Finn cut himself off before he went into a rant about the baby drama.

"Okay. Let's stop with the sap and get to rehearsals" Puck gave Finn a nod and the walked to class, Finn took a seat 2 rows behind Rachel next to Santana. The only open seat he saw that wasn't next to Rachel.

Puck walked over to the side of the classroom putting his guitar around his shoulder. He looked over at Rachel who had a sad look on her face, she looked like a helpless puppy.

Mr. Schue walked into the room,

"So, any ideas for the mash up?" everybody was looking around at each other. Puck didn't want to have to go first...

"Anybody?" continued.

"Oh come on, guys! It's like you're daring me to start dancing!" everyone started making fun of him, and Puck was getting anxious. Fuck it.

"I've been working on something" why did he open his mouth? Damnit, now he had to go first. He saw everyone stop and gawk at him, the surprised look in most of their faces.

"It's my personal tribute to a... musical Jewish icon." trying to sound as meaningful as he could, and making sure Rachel knew he did all of this shit for her.

"Uhm, fantastic... let's hear it!" Mr. Schue sounded surprised. That was it, he was going to blow everyone the fuck away!

He started playing the chords as the band started playing with him.

He started of singing kind of shy, not making eye contact with anyone, still not used to being in the complete spotlight. He turned and looked at her, and remember she is the reason he chose the song. If he was going to blow everyone the fuck away, he was going to have to get into it as much as her. He gave her a little glance as he sung, and noticed the look on her face. She looked like she wasn't breathing!  
Noticing everyone else started swaying to the song, he got more into it, singing with more power in his voice than he had when he was singing alone. He started walking towards her, and he glanced up at her again and she broke out into a huge smile. He did it, this was the way to charm your way into Berry's heart the Puck way. He couldn't stop the huge grin forming on his lips if he wanted to.  
He glanced up and noticed Finn sat with a jealous look on his face he tried to hide.  
As the song ended he looked into her eyes, and it felt just like when they would stop dancing to their song. The trance didn't break until everyone started clapping and he looked down a little embarrassed that that just happened. Who was he becoming?

He put down the guitar and went to sit down next to Rachel,

"You were right,"

He looked over at her

"I did enjoy your performance" she grinned at him, and he smiled back.

After him everyone else started getting the courage to get up and perform their own songs, Puck was impressed. Especially by Rachel's performance. As girly as it sounds, it was breathtaking. He wouldn't be surprised if the girls in the room had tears in their eyes. She smiled at him as she sat down, but they didn't talk until after rehearsal.

Mr. Schue dismissed them, and Puck walked over to put his guitar back in it's case. When he was snapping the locks closed he saw Finn talking to Rachel.

He stood up quietly to hear them better, it was hard to hear over everybody talking so loudly.

"Rachel, just be careful, you know?"

"Please, Finn. You are not my bodyguard, you think I can't take care of myself?"

He was pissed that Finn went behind his back and told Rachel to be careful of him. Was he purposefully trying to make this hard for him?  
Puck was tired of thinking, and picked up his guitar case and walked out alone to his car. He wanted to talk to Rachel, but for now he didn't want to piss Finn off any more after their talk.

---

Rachel wasn't dumb. She noticed when Puck caught Finn talking about him. She knew Finn was looking out for her, but it seemed like Finn should put more trust in his own friends.  
Well, Noah Puckerman might be an exception to that, but even she was opening up to the fact that he had a nice side to him.

Pushing the small paranoia that he might be playing with her out of her mind, she saw as Puck grabbed his guitar and hurried out of the room.  
She wanted to run after him, but she didn't want to seem too over-bearing. Plus, she still needed to ask Mercedes, Tina, and Artie if they wanted to meet up at the game tomorrow.  
She excused herself from Finn, saying she had to hurry home to make dinner, hopefully he wouldn't catch her in her lie if he saw her sitting outside waiting for her dad to pick her up.

---

He got into his car, starting the engine. His mind kept wondering to what shit Finn was telling about her now.

He broke out of his thoughts when he saw her walking out of the doors to the school, realizing he hadn't even left the parking lot yet he put his car in reverse and backed out. Pulling out of the parking lot, he slowed down as he passed the benches she sat on.

She looked up when she hard the noise of a car, and saw it was Puck. Unsure if he was mad at her for her conversation with Finn, she just glanced at him with a blank face, waiting for a reaction. He smiled in response to her, happy that she looked up. He nodded his head to her, smile still in place and she returned his nod with her own smile.  
He still had his foot lightly pushing on the break, and his truck slowed to a stop. He didn't want to look like an idiot, stopping for no reason, and feeling confident that Rachel didn't listen to Finn's crap, he rolled down the window and called out,

"Get in, Rach." he said it in a kind tone, but it definitely wasn't a question. She looked taken aback, but it only took her a couple of seconds to stand up and pull her backpack around the side of his truck.  
He pushed open the door for her, holding out his arm to take her backpack.  
She climbed in and shut the door.  
Once her seatbelt was on, he pulled away.  
Neither one seeing Finn walk out the door as Rachel got in Puck's truck.

----

**Dun, dun, dun! **

**I never really realized how dramatic that ending seems, please don't take it that way! It's more like, Finn just realizes that Rachel lied to him about having to rush home. Nothing big or anything.**

**Puck's solo is when he is singing 'Sweet Caroline', I didn't add the lyrics because I was hoping it would be obvious enough. Hopefully it was. ;]  
**

**Thanks to those who are still reading, and reviewing! I appreciate it dearly. :]**


	6. Chapter 6

Puck felt good tonight. They were in the 4th quarter and already winning by 12 points.  
He hadn't looked up at the bleachers all night.  
He didn't want Rachel to see him trying to scan her out dumbly, when he probably couldn't even make out anyone's face.  
The buzzer went off, he heard the home wide of the stadium bust out into cheers.  
They won, of course.

---

He was walking with the team through the crowd of fans to the locker room.  
Slowly looking around trying to spot her, he noticed Kurt run forward and jump into a hug with Mercedes. He stopped when he saw Rachel with them, everyone was congratulating Kurt, but she wasn't in the conversation at all. She was trying [and failing] at hiding the fact that she kept glancing around everywhere, looking for someone. Then their eyes met, and a smile broke out on both of their faces.  
She walked away from the group without excusing herself. Stopping right in front of him, she had to stop herself from jumping up and engulfing him in a hug.

"Hey." They both said at the same time. She started blushing again, and he had the urge to reach out and pull her into a kiss, just to see how red she could get.  
Realizing they were still standing in a huge crowd, and he didn't need to embarrassment of kissing Rachel in front of everyone. Or maybe he was a little worried about getting rejected by Rachel in front of everyone.

He nodded his head in the direction of the school so she could accompany him to the locker room.  
He spoke up to break the silence as they walked.

"So? How was your first experience at a game?"

"It was fantastic!" she beamed, bouncing on her heels.

"I just loved the whole crowd cheering, and really getting into it. It was like being a part of something great." he smiled at her, and brushed his hand against hers to see if she noticed. He couldn't tell, but she definitely noticed. Her fingers were tingling, and the feeling was creeping it's way up her arm. She only thought it was on accident, so didn't say anything.

"I do appreciate the invitation, Noah"

"It's no problem... you do know that you don't _have_ to be invited. It's a public football game."

"Well, I know that," She looked down, a little embarrassed and got quieter.

"I just never had a reason to go before."

He looked down at her with the sweetest smile you will ever see on Noah Puckerman's face. He wanted her to know that her comment meant a lot to him. No one that he knew of had ever came to see_ him _play. His mom always had to work, and she wasn't much of a football fan either.

She wouldn't look at him though, so this time he slid his hand into hers and interlaced their fingers.  
She stopped in her tracks, looking up at him surprised.

"Puck." she almost sounded disappointed.

He slowly let her hand go as he turned so that he was in front of her. Behind her he could see a couple of football players about to walk through the school doors, so he grabbed her arm and pulled her down a dark hallway. He waited for them to pass, not exactly sure why he pulled her over, but once they passed, he looked back at her.  
Now she was looking at the floor, her face seemed so... sad. He wasn't sure why, but he figured it was his fault and that wasn't his intention at all.

He bent his head down, closed his eyes, and brushed his lips over hers.  
He heard her sharp intake of breath as he did, and that set a fire throughout his veins.  
He wanted to deepen the kiss, pull her closer and run his fingers through her soft looking hair.

Instead, he pulled away and looked into her very wide eyes.  
Shit, his cheeks were burning. It was his turn to blush.  
What was wrong with him? It's not like it was a very passionate kiss, but it felt... nice.

"Noah Puckerman" she finally stated breathy.

Shit, she sounded kind of pissed. He stood there, waiting for a lecture of sorts, but it didn't come. She didn't know what else to say after that.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have. I think I was still just caught up in the hype of the game, you know?" He smirked, trying not to look hurt. Neither of them knowing what to say, he started walking to the locker room. The time she spoke up quietly.

"Wait." he stopped. He really wanted to get out of here, but she just had to draw this out.

"Puck. I don't know what your feelings are for me, and this whole situation is just... very confusing for me to deal with..."

Ugh, was she playing a game to see how much worse she could make this?

"Listen, it's nothing, Berry. I'll catch up with you later."

"But, you kissed me!"

"Yeah?"

"Well, you know, I don't think you would just kiss a friend, even out of excitement, unless you were drunk. But that's beside the point because I highly doubt you are drunk right now-"

"You aren't drunk are you?" Rachel asked very seriously.

"What?" He couldn't help but give her the what-the-fuck look.

"Well, you know, I've heard of pre-game rituals, and since I've never been a part of a game, I'm not sure I understand the full concept..."

He was smiling, he couldn't help it! He was trying to hold back his laughter because he didn't want to think he was laughing at her. He was... kind of, but only because he never thought Rachel Berry could be so clueless.

"You're cute, Rach" Oh crap, did he just say that out loud?

She smiled, and he took that as a good sign.. A moment of silence passed

"I'm going to go change, wait for me?" Puck questioned

She nodded her head and he hurried to the locker room. He wanted to get his stuff and go, Rachel was waiting and he wanted to see if she would let him kiss her more.

---

When Puck came out of the locker room he searched down the hallway, but didn't see Rachel anywhere.  
_What doesn't she understand about 'wait for me'?_

He walked outside, and the crowed had thinned out, he spotted Rachel and-

_No._ He clenched his fist so hard around his gym bag he thought he would get rope burn. He started stomping towards them when he noticed they were standing next to pretty much all of the other Glee kids [besides Tina and Artie who had already left].

How had he not noticed them before was beyond him. She was getting in his head so bad that all he saw was jealousy when Finn was next to Rachel.  
He walked over to the group and stood close to Rachel, placing the hand on the small of her back.  
She looked up at him, but he kept looking forward as if he didn't do anything.  
Everyone was just about to leave,

"Do you need a ride, Rachel?" Finn turned towards her, oblivious to the proximity of Rachel and Puck.

"That's okay, I got it, man." Puck said a little sternly before Rachel could even open up her mouth to answer.

"Why don't we let Rachel decide?" Finn glared back.

"Yeah, sure. What do you think _Rach_?" Puck said as he turned towards Rachel and smiled, his hand still on her back, he started to softly rub his thumb against her back, as if to persuade her to his side.

Rachel was speechless. I mean, she knew she should be angry at them acting like she was some possession, But hello, two of the hottest guys in school were fighting over her! Who wouldn't love that? She was pretty sure everyone else was just about as speechless as her because Kurt, Mercedes, Mike, Matt, Santana and Brittany were just staring between the two of them in shock.

She knew she was going to pick Puck, but she let it stew for a bit as to not seem so eager and so it wouldn't hurt Finn's feelings.

"Well... Puck already knows where I live..." As soon as she said his name he smiled and lifted his arm and draped it over her shoulder. Pretty much everyone looked surprised from this public fight over Rachel, and that she picked Puck over Finn!

"Puck knows where you live?" Finn asked questioningly

"Later." he said to everyone. Puck heard Finn, but he didn't want him to think he just gave her a couple of rides home, he wanted Finn to think something a little more than that happened and it looked like it worked.

"Bye guys" Rachel waved at them as Puck led them to the parking lot.

----

On the way home a million things were going through Rachel's mind, she was having the hardest time keeping her mouth shut so she didn't start going into a huge speech about how if they had a relationship it couldn't be a secret. What she had with Finn doesn't even count as a relationship, but it was always in private [for obvious reasons] but it isn't what she wants, but who's to say Puck even wants to date her?...

"What do you want from me?" as soon as she said it she realized that may have not been the best wording, and it didn't help that her tone sounded a little demanding.

"Uhm..."

"That's not what I meant! What I meant was... nevermind" Rachel said before he could get a word in.

She realized after the scene between Finn and Puck, Puck probably didn't want to hear Finn's name right now. Not to mention they only kissed, and it was just a little kiss. Yeah, maybe it made her lips tingle, and maybe her hand still burned from the feeling of his, but it wasn't anything big. At least to him it probably wasn't.

Puck was kind of glad she stopped herself, he was kind of hurt by her tone when she asked him what he wanted. What was he supposed to say? 'I want to date you to make my mom happy'? 'I want you to tell Finn to fuck off because you don't want him'? He didn't even know what the truth was anymore. Well those were both true, he just didn't know what his true meaning for wanting her anymore was.

After a little bit of silence Rachel turned on the radio and started flipping channels. Doesn't she know that is off limits in someone else's car? She probably didn't think it applied to her, she's Rachel Berry and she can do anything she wants.  
After settling on a station Puck never listens to, there was a song playing that he had heard but never paid attention to before.

"I love this song!" Rachel beamed as if forgetting the uncomfortable situation, and then proceeded to sing along.

Puck decided he liked the song now too and smiled. He'd probably like any song she sang.

They pulled into her driveway and Puck got out of his truck running to the other side to open the door for her, but she was already out of the truck.

"Thanks for the ride, Puck! Tonight was one of the best Friday nights I've had in awhile" she smiled dreamily as if she was thinking back to everything that just happened in the last hour.

"Yeah, it was fun. Maybe next time we could...." he tried to keep up he's cool exterior, but she was making him nervous the way she was burning a hole right through him.

"Hang out a little bit longer afterward." he finished.

"I would like that, Puck." They both smiled, and Puck couldn't take this anymore. He realized the reason he was so nervous is because he knew he was going to kiss her again. It was going to happen, and it was going to be awesome. At least he hoped so.

He reached up his right hand and brushed a piece of her hair behind her ears, making her blush shyly and look down. He combed his fingers through her _very very_ soft hair until his palm rested on the back of her neck. Her eyes fluttered closed instinctively and he reached down and pressed his lips against hers.

Rachel felt like she was on fire, her whole body was tingling. She had never felt this way before, not even with... what was his name again? Oh yeah, Finn.

Puck was about to deepen the kiss when he wrapped his other arm around her waist. But this time she pulled away. _What the hell? _He opened his eyes and looked at her, she looked so flustered and adorable.

"My dads are probably watching." She said shyly.

Puck looked up at the window and saw the curtains moving as if someone was just standing there. He looked back down at her and smiled, but dropped his hands from her.  
He couldn't talk, it was like he forgot words! What was wrong with him!?

"I'll see you Monday, Puck!" She said softly and turned around to walk away, but he grabbed her hand before she got too far, and kissed her on the cheek. He kept it innocent just in case her dads were watching again.

"Bye Rach" he said sweetly. And dropped her hand, she glanced at him and smiled for a second before turning around and walked up to the door, her dads opened it before she even walked up the steps.

Before he got caught up in an awkward parent meeting thing, he turned on his heel and got in his truck. When Monday comes around everyone would know that Rachel is off limits, especially Finn. He smiled thinking about the look on Finn's face when he would see them making out in the hallway. Okay, maybe Rachel wasn't_ that_ okay with PDA, but who knows, it was worth a try.

Monday was going to be a great day, he could feel it.

----

**If you couldn't guess it already, I also know nothing about football. I tried to keep that scene brief as well so I wouldn't offend any football fans. Haha!  
Also, I know McKinley football isn't known for winning, so I skewed things a bit, sorry!**

**Thanks, thanks, thanks again! I love the reviews!  
**


	7. Chapter 7

Puck could not get Rachel out of his mind all weekend. He hung out with Matt and Mike, but even they couldn't take his mind off of her.  
It probably didn't help that they questioned him about it for about half an hour, but he didn't say much. And maybe when they asked if he was getting some from Berry he smirked. But only because he really liked that thought, but it led them to believe it was a 'yes' which he didn't really deny.  
And when he walked into school that morning, yeah he showed up a little early because he knew she did too, and yeah he walked right past his locker to go see if she was at hers first, but no, he definitely wasn't completely smitten with Rachel.

When he got there he saw Finn smile and walk away from her, not noticing Puck. Puck's good mood suddenly changed and he walked up to Rachel,

"What was that about?" He normally isn't a nosy person, but he couldn't help it. He could tell Rachel liked him, but that didn't mean she didn't still like Finn too. And Finn was always following her like a lost puppy when Quinn wasn't around to see.

"Good morning, Puck," She beamed at him, she looked excited to see him, and that made him forget he was angry a second ago and smile back.

"Finn just asked me if I would help him with his vocals, he wants to help improve his higher notes so that I don't drown him out when we sing lead together "

He stepped closer and leaned against the other lockers.

"Well, he shouldn't have to worry about that since _we_ are singing lead, right?" He reached out and held her hand when he said this, and she was totally eating up his attention.

"You're right," She smiled dreamily

"but anything to help take New Directions to nationals, right?" Pucks face fell a bit

"So you said yes?"

"...yes." He dropped her hand, and looked disappointed. Then Rachel spoke up,

"And why does it matter to you? I've helped you too when you asked, and I was the one who set up the whole routine for the girls mash up! And..." She sighed, stopping herself from ranting.

"But anyways, it's not like.... you're not," She was going to ask him if he was jealous, but if he said no that he didn't like her like that or something she was afraid she would get upset and die of embarrassment.

He reached out and grabbed her hand again, he smiled

"I'd like to be." His voice made her heart melt when he said that, but what was he talking about?

"You'd like to be jealous?" she said questioningly, she was truly confused, and now so was he.

"Uhm... what? No... I meant, I'd like to be your..." he paused, now he felt like an idiot

"Oh!" she blushed, she was such an idiot around boys sometimes, they made her feel so weak at the knees. Especially the boy standing in front of her.

"I'd like that too Puck."

He looked back up at her and smiled as he stood up straight, closing the distance between them. Their lips met in a kiss as more people started walking the halls. But they didn't notice because they didn't matter. All that mattered was that Puck had just won Rachel, and he was pretty sure she was the best prize he had ever received.

----

Two days later found Puck and Rachel early for Glee rehearsal, Rachel was trying to go over what leads she should suggest Mr. Schuester let them sing together, but he kept interrupting her by giving her a quick kiss. He was paying attention to her, but he liked when she blushed and kept talking as if he wasn't hinting towards something. Well, he kind of wished she would shut up and kiss him back, but he knew that was unlikely and, what could he do?

"Puck, I'm serious. I think we should really both have a part in the selection of a song if we want to have the best chance at getting the leads for it."

He leaned over and kissed her again

"You know you love it" she smiled at this, but right before she could let him know how much she does love it, the door opened and Kurt and Mercedes walked in, followed by Tina and Artie. Puck leaned back into his own chair, but left his arm hanging around the back of Rachel's.

Mike, Matt, Santana, Brittany and Mr. Schuester walked in and he was about to start up talking before the door opened. It was Finn holding the door open for.... Quinn. She had on a cute blue dress, and her hair was let loose.  
Puck was in awe, whenever he saw her she normally had that Cheerios uniform on, with her hair pulled straight back it, made her look so tough on the exterior. But now she looked so innocent, and so sad. Puck had that guilt feeling welling up inside of him.  
Then he realized Rachel was still on his left, and he dropped his arm from her back.

"Quinn! We are so happy to have you back!" Mr. Schue stated, and everyone agreed.

She gave a small smile, but you could see it was just a front. One she was failing at.

"If you're up for it, " Mr. Schue went on.

"The song we're singing now was originally supposed to have you as lead. So, if you think you'd like to, we wouldn't mind going slowly over the choreography until you get used to it"

"I'd like that Mr. Schue. Thank you" she said quietly.

Rachel was taken a back by what Mr. Schue said to her, but... they were so long through practicing it, they were almost done and Rachel was perfect! What was wrong with her? She was better than Quinn, and it's going to take her forever to learn the choreography as well as Rachel knew it without puking through the first spin.

"Okay. Puck if you want to come up here with Quinn, we'll start with just singing for now and see where we go from there"

"Puck, I thought we were going to sing lead together?" Rachel looked at him sadly

"Come on, Rachel. You have to let other people have a chance too" he said, not really looking at her because it was still fresh in his mind that he gets to do a solo with Quinn Fabray.

Rachel looked surprised that he would say something like that to her and when he got up to walk to the front she turned around and glared at the wall in front of her.  
Finn walked past Quinn and sat down in Puck's empty seat.

"Hey Rach! Isn't this great! I finally talked Quinn into coming back to school, once I mentioned that we all missed her, and that Mr. Schue had a solo for her she changed her mind,"

Rachel was listening but just nodded sadly, Finn didn't catch on that she was upset and went on,

"I'm proud of her, you know? I think finding out that Mr. Schue believed in her made her want to prove herself. Especially since she got kicked off the Cheerios squad..."

"Is that why she isn't in her uniform?"

"Yeah, she just dropped off her uniform before rehersal, that's why we were a little la-..." Finn trailed off as the music started playing.

When Puck started singing, Rachel noticed how Quinn's eyes lit up, and she definitely noticed that smile Puck gave Quinn, it was the same smile he had on his face when he looked at her when she was lead.  
That's was it. She decided God hated her, Quinn Fabray was his little angel that kept coming into her life and taking everything she wanted. First Finn, now another solo, and Puck. At least Rachel's not the pregnant one... She stopped herself, realizing that she was being kind of selfish saying that.

The chorus came up and Rachel didn't start singing, she was too lost in her own thoughts about this whole mess now doubting whether Puck actually wanted to be with her.  
The felt a sharp pain on her side, and looked over to see Kurt elbowing her, waking her out of her daydream... more like nightmare.  
She looked over at Finn and realized he wasn't singing either, he had his hands clenched at his sides, and was staring straight at Puck who was slowly going over some of the choreography with Quinn as they sang. So he noticed it too! And Mr. Schue said they weren't even doing choreography this time! She was getting angrier by the minute, and she couldn't even bring herself to start singing without screaming at the top of her lungs.

* * *

After the very painful rehearsal, Rachel tidied up her sheet music, shoved them in her backpack, and ran out of the classroom as fast as she could, trying to avoid getting stopped by someone.

"Rachel, hey... Rachel!" Mr. Schue called out to her as she brushed past him, he noticed neither her nor Finn had sung the first time around during the song, and he knew she was probably upset with Quinn getting her solo back.

"Finn, can I talk to you for a moment?" Mr. Schue asked as Finn was almost out of the door. Finn looked down the hallways, and then looked back and Mr. Schue and walked over to him.

"Yeah. Mr. Schue?"

"I noticed you and Rachel didn't sing during rehearsal today, is there anything wrong?" Finn didn't say anything, he shifted his gaze back to the door. Mr. Schue knew about the baby, but he didn't want to involve him in any high school love drama.

"I know Rachel is probably upset about the solo, but-"

"I don't think that's the only thing she is upset about"

"... is she okay?" He asked seriously

"I'm sure she'll be fine, I've got to run, I'll see you tomorrow, Mr. Schue" Finn hurried past him, about to run out the door to find Rachel when he heard someone.

"Leaving without me?" It was Quinn, it looked like Puck had already left when he was talking to Mr. Schue. Hopefully he would explain to Rachel that whatever just had happened between him and Quinn was all for show... right?

"Sorry, Quinn. I just forgot something in my locker and I wasn't sure if you were ready or not" He smiled sheepishly.

"Whatever Finn, take me home. I need a lot of rest if I am going to come back and do this again tomorrow." He grabbed her hand to walk her out of the room, but as soon as the door shut behind them, she dropped his hand and started walking the opposite way as Finn.

"Where are you going?"

"To your locker... you needed to get something out of it, right?" She stood there and looked at him confused.

"Oh, right." She rolled her eyes at him, and waited for him to catch up before they started walking down the hall.

----

Singing with Quinn was different from singing with Rachel. He felt like he was drowning out Quinn's voice, where as with Rachel their voices were about even in tone. But there was just something about Quinn today that made him more aware of her as a person... as the mother of his kid. After rehearsal that day he had been caught up with Quinn, when he saw Rachel run past him out the room he knew he should have went after her, but Quinn was there and he hadn't seen her for about 2 weeks! Rachel could be such a drama queen sometimes.  
Once he saw Finn run after Rachel out the door, he realized he should have went before Finn had the chance.  
Luckily Mr. Schue called Finn over and stopped him from leaving.

"Hey Quinn, it's been really nice seeing you after so long"

"You too, Puck" she smiled sweetly, and he almost forgot what he was about to say next.

"...I've got to go though, I'll see you tomorrow in rehearsals, right?"

"Right." He threw her another smile before walking out of the door unnoticed by Finn.

----

When he got outside, Rachel was sitting on the bench hunched over. He walked over in front of her

"You ready to go?" She looked up at him and she looked like she was about to cry. What is wrong with her?

"Uhm... you okay?" she shook her head and looked back down.

"I'm sorry... but if you need a ride I need to go now, I have to get home before my mom leaves for work." He wasn't trying to be mean, but he just realized the time and he had to go.

"Just go." He looked at her confused and reached down to grab her backpack

"What? Come on, get up, let's g-"

"Please just leave, Puck." He just stared at her but she wouldn't look at him. Ugh, he didn't need her shit right now. he put her backpack back down next to her

"Yeah, okay... Bye Rachel" she didn't reply so he just turned around and walked out to his car.

Rachel just sat there, she was about to start crying even harder when she heard someone from behind her

"Bye Rach!" Rachel looked up to see it was Finn. He was smiling until he saw the tears in her eyes, and his face dropped. He looked like he wanted to say something until Quinn started pulling him the other way.

"Let's go, Finn, we don't have time for this."

Finn gave one more look at Rachel and followed Quinn.

She sat alone for a good thirty minutes until she stopped crying and looked at the time, realizing her dads thought Puck would be taking her home they probably hadn't even let yet. She texted her dad, and when she put her phone away she tried to wipe away her tears before her dad asked her too many questions when he came to pick her up.

----

I forgot to mention awhile ago that I don't have a beta. I do read over the chapters multiple times to try and catch everything, but after the 3rd time everything just kind of a blurs together, haha. No one has said anything about it yet though, so I'm hoping it's not too bad. If you ever do catch something that sounds off or just really bad grammar, don't be afraid to point it out! [As long as you're nice about it] Thanks! :]

Thanks again for the very lovely reviews! :D


	8. Chapter 8

That night Puck felt bad for leaving Rachel at school when she was so upset. He should have done what any good boyfriend would have done and picked her up off of the bench and carried her to his truck himself. He decided to call her and apologize, also ask her why she was so upset, he didn't do anything wrong did he?  
He had called multiple times and she didn't pick up until the third time when he called from his house phone instead of his cell.

"Hello?"

"Rach, it's me."

"...what do you need?" He winced at the change in the tone of her voice when she found it was him.

"Can we talk?... what happened after school today? This can't be just because you don't have that lead anymore."

she scoffed " Actually, it isn't. I could ask you the same thing, what was going on between you and Quinn at rehearsal after school?"

"What... what do you mean?"

"Please Puck, I noticed the way you two looked at each other... Finn noticed it too." oh, so that's why Finn was running after her... he didn't think he did anything wrong though..

"I haven't seen Quinn for weeks, it was just... nice to see her again I guess"

"You two weren't even that close before..." he sighed, in a way she was right. They had the baby between them, but Rachel didn't know that and besides that they were never that close other than her being Finn's girlfriend.

"...I'm sorry Rach... " there was a small pause before she replied

"Okay" her voice still sounded short, and a little disbelieving.

"And I'm sorry for leaving you at school, I had to get home to watch my sister before my mom left."

"It's okay" she said more understanding this time

"No, I should have taken you home whether you wanted to or not"

"...That would have been ... interesting" She giggled lightly through her words, and now he was smiling

"It would have been _very_ interesting," he joked with a hint of suggestion in his voice, he could hear her laugh over the phone again. He was happy her mood had lightened up.

"So... do you forgive me?" he asked hesitantly

"...I guess so" she smiled, she couldn't help it he sounded so cute. She couldn't tell but he smiled too. He was worried she'd say no.

"Thanks Rach, I'll see you at school tomorrow?"

"Yeah, bye Puck"

"Bye"

So maybe she overreacted a bit over the Quinn thing, she had been gone awhile...

----

After Puck hung up he felt so much better. Like the weight was lifted off his shoulders. He didn't think he was acting different around Quinn, maybe just because he was used to Rachel being in her spot. Or maybe he still liked Quinn, but it couldn't help but have a certain pull towards her. He admitted it was nice to finally get attention from Quinn after so long of her bitching him out and ignoring him.

-------------------

The next day at school Rachel ran into Puck before rehearsal.

"Hey"

"Hello Puck"

"Are we... good?" he asked hesitantly and she smiled up at him.

"Yeah, we're good." he slipped his hand into hers and they walked together to the music room,

"So, I know we don't have the lead together anymore, but I was thinking about what you said yesterday." she looked confused, trying to think back to what she had said

"We should get together to pick out songs to practice... you know for our leads in the future" She smiled suddenly remembering. He didn't want to have to spend more time singing outside of Glee, but he figured this would make it up to Rachel.

"Really? I'd love to!"

"Great, maybe this weekend you can come over or something..."

"My dads will be gone Saturday afternoon, maybe you could come over then?" He smiled thinking about him and Rachel. Being alone. At her house.

"I'd like that"

-------------------

They were just performing. There was nothing going on. The smile that Puck was giving Quinn is fake. His real smile is saved for her, and her only. Rachel was grinding her teeth, trying to remind herself that whatever was happening was only in her head as she watched them perform.  
It wasn't fair! That should have been her! Quinn wasn't even doing the choreography right! Every time she had to grab him she would hold on a little too long. What was that about?  
You could say Rachel was fuming, but she was trying to hide it.

They were in the auditorium going over choreography today, and she was glad Finn was her partner. Well she would rather it be Puck, but Finn had the same look on his face. He knew what she was going through right now.

"Ow" Finn looked down, breaking his glare that was aimed at Puck and Quinn. He had accidentally stepped on her foot when he moved right instead of left.

"I'm sorry, Rach. I just keep getting distracted" he whispered as he tried to keep up with the beat.

"I can tell." she whispered back. He grinned apologetically, and she smiled back

This time Finn kept his eyes on Rachel, she was helping him get the rhythm back, and her smile was doing a good job of distracting him from Quinn and Puck.

---

Puck was trying to shake Quinn loose a bit when she would hold on to him too long during the dancing. She was throwing of the beat, and messing up his steps! Rachel would not do something like this to mess of the choreography, even if she really wanted to.  
Puck looked over at Rachel, of course her partner was Finn. He saw them whisper something to each other and then smile and gaze into each others eyes like love sick puppies. He turned back to Quinn and smiled, putting his attention back on her.

--------

After rehearsal Puck went to talk to Rachel before Quinn could get to him, he wanted to make sure she was still okay. He was never sure with her anymore.

"Hey Rach, ready to go home?"

"Yeah, I'm ready" she smiled. If she was mad, she was hiding it and she was good at it. But he hoped that wasn't the case.

* * *

**Haha, sorry about making people hate Puck. I didn't think it was too bad, hopefully these next couple of chapters explain the characters emotions more.  
**

**I have up to chapter 11 written, and just a warning to those who didn't like the last chapter, there is more drama ahead. [Please don't hate me!] I have a lot of ideas for the following chapters written but it's a matter of putting things in order and getting it right. I've been trying to post a chapter once a day, but after chapter 11 I'm not sure when the next one will be up. **

**I hate the idea of Puck and Quinn together, and I'm so glad there are other people who think the same thing. Believe me, you have no idea how hard it was to write her in. That's why she was absent the first couple of chapters. Haha, I'm horrible.**

**Anyways, thanks for the reviews, ****I hope you keep reading! :]  
**


	9. Chapter 9

It was 1pm on Saturday and Puck and Rachel were already making out. He could barely remember how it happened. They had been rehearsing for a good hour, and Puck's voice started getting worn, cracking whenever he tried to hit a high note. It sent her into a fit of giggles every time, and he couldn't help but lean over and kiss her. Never mind that she was laughing at him, she looked adorable when doing it.  
Somehow they ended up on the bed, and here they were now. She pulled out of the kiss slowly, leaning down to kiss him every time she pulled away a little farther.  
He smiled up at her, she was still laying on top of him and didn't look like she was going to budge.

"Nice distraction" she said, and he laughed at her attempt to sound serious, when she was grinning, and her soft lips were still bruised from the kissing. He leaned up and kiss her again.

"It worked didn't it?" She rolled her eyes sarcastically and sat up,

"Puck, I'd really like to have a solo with you again... so if you wouldn't mind..." she looked at him with a pout, almost afraid to ask

"could we look for more songs?" he smiled at her, and kissed her again

"Yeah, sure"

She got up and went over to a folder she had brought full of different sheet music she already had. He got up and followed behind her, he pointed to the first sheet he saw, not even reading the title.

"How about that one?"

"That's the piece I am going to have Finn sing when I help him rehearse" His face fell, but she didn't notice because he was still standing behind her. He did not like this idea, but he figured if she could live with him and Quinn doing the solo together, he could stand her practicing with Finn.

"Oh..." she looked up at him and noticed he wasn't smiling anymore. She wrapped her arms around his neck,

"Don't worry, I still want you to be my lead." she kissed him, and he smiled. The way she put it made it sound cheesy, but he knew what she meant, and he was glad Finn wouldn't be taking his spot anytime soon. He leaned down and kissed her again, wrapping his arms around her waist, she closed her eyes and gave in to the kiss without protesting. This time a minute didn't even pass before she pulled away again. He smiled sheepishly and shrugged. He really didn't feel like rehearsing because his throat still hurt a bit, but his distraction wasn't working anymore so he figured there was nothing else to do but give in.

------------

"Puck, I think that maybe we should start rehearsing after school"

"Uhm... " he glanced over at Rachel who seemed very tense that Quinn was standing within 10ft of her.

"I mean, Mr. Schuester thinks it's a good idea. And Finn told me he can't take me home after rehearsals anymore unless I want to sit around and wait for him and Berry," Quinn turned to her and threw her a glare, before turning back to Puck and continuing.

"to make out or whatever."

"If Mr. Schuester thinks it's a good idea, then okay. But please, let's not make harsh accusations." He said, he did not like her comment about Finn and Rachel making out. Her lips were saved for him, and if Finn touched them, then he might just have to kick someone's ass.

She smiled that he agreed and sat down at the seat next to him. He saw Rachel tense up, and he put his hand on her knee and squeezed it. He hoped Rachel knew he only agreed to do this to help with Glee club, maybe he also did it because he was still a little jealous that Finn would be singing for Rachel. But he didn't want her to think he did it because he wanted to be with Quinn.

---------

After rehearsal he met Rachel at her locker before they went their separate ways to practice.

"Hey" he walked up to her and slid his arms around her waist, pulling her into a kiss. Her lips were always so soft, like they were begging for him to kiss her.

When they broke a part she was smiling up at him, he really liked her smile

"So, since we didn't get much practice in last weekend" she blushed as she said this,

"I was wondering if you wanted to practice again this weekend?" He looked at her and smirked when she asked this. He hoped she knew practice would most definitely consist of another make out session.

"How about Sunday night? My mom is taking my sister to some play and they should be gone for awhile..." she could hear the suggestion in his voice, and her blush deepened. Noah sure knew how to make her feel embarrassed and giddy at the same time.

"That works out perfectly! My dads are having a dinner party at our house that night, and now I have a reason to skip it."

"Perfect" he said with a smirk. She knew his intentions, which she didn't mind at all but she wanted to let him know that they weren't only going to make out next time.

"I really do enjoying singing with you, Puck" his smirk turned into a smile

"I'm glad you joined Glee club, the world needs to know about the talented Noah Puckerman" she said a little teasingly. Before he started blushing from embarrassment he pulled her close and kissed her sweetly, she felt like she could die right now and be happy. His hand felt so soft on her face, the place where his thumb was slowly stroking her cheek felt like it was on fire. He pulled away, and when she finally opened her eyes, he was staring back at her smirking.

"How does 7 sound?" she was stilling in a daze, and Puck spoke up to break her out of it.

"So...?" He asked, feeling proud that he just left Rachel Berry speechless and confused.

"...oh. Uhm, 7 sounds good."

He walked her to the auditorium where she would be helping Finn practice. He smiled and leaned over, giving her a quick kiss on the lips before she left.

----

He walked back to the music room where him and Quinn would be practicing. She was sitting on a chair looking down at her sheet music when he walked in.

"I thought you were going to bail on me" Quinn said

"No, I just had something I needed to do"

Quinn nodded and went to stand up next to him, she lightly placed her hand on his arm as if she was trying to steady herself. But she wasn't stumbling.  
He looked down at her arm and then back up to her face, she was looking at him sweetly as if it was completely normal.

"I was thinking we could try some choreography today" stepping slightly closer to him.

"Uhm, yeah, sure." he said a little uncomfortably. He normally doesn't get awkward around women, but he just had this weird feeling in his gut.  
They kept having to stop every 20 minutes or so when Quinn would get dizzy and need a drink, he didn't mind. He wanted to do as little dancing as possible, it was his least favorite part about Glee but it was normally bearable when Rachel was the one next to him.  
When he thought about Rachel the weird feeling in his gut seemed to pull tighter, he felt really uncomfortable like he was doing something wrong. But he wasn't, they were just rehearsing!

Quinn walked back over to him,

"Okay, let's try that last bit of the chorus one more time" he nodded his head and waiting for her to get into position so he knew where they were starting.

When the chorus ended and Puck and Quinn's fingers were still interlaced, he was about to pull away when the 2nd verse started but she was holding onto his hand so tight he couldn't pull it out of her grasp. He looked at her weirdly, about to say something when she cut him off by pressing her lips against his. He didn't feel anything, there was no spark, only desperation from Quinn's side. She was pushing too hard, craving the attention she didn't get from Finn. He pulled away fast. This was all wrong.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Quinn"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean... we're both kind of seeing someone"

"That didn't stop you before." she smiled and was about to dip in for another kiss when he pulled away.

"Uhm, I think we accomplished a lot today... I mean with our dancing, so I think I'm going to go find Rachel and go home now. Bye Quinn" He said in a hurry as he rushed out of the music room.

He found Rachel as soon as he turned into another hallway. She was on her way to the music room to see if he was ready to go.

She put her arm through his as they walked out to the parking lot. She was going on about how much work she was going to need to do with Finn, but one day he was going to be perfect because she was the one teaching him. He spoke up when she asked how practice with Quinn was.

"Nothing special" he said a little too quickly. Rachel was just looking at him, he could feel her staring at him, trying to read his face. He didn't want her to get suspicious so he smiled and looked at her

"I think I would have liked it more if it was with you." He knew he wasn't only talking about rehearsal, but the kiss too. And now she was smiling, forgetting she was questioning him a second ago.

He mentally sighed in his head, he realized that pain he had in his gut was guilt. He felt guilt because he should have been the one with Quinn, making her feel better during her pregnancy, but he also felt guilty that he kissed Quinn [more like let her kiss him] because he didn't want to hurt Rachel. She was like an innocent bystander that is caught up in a whirl wind of drama that she didn't even know about. Maybe he would feel better if he told Rachel about the baby, but she probably wouldn't feel better, and neither would Quinn, Finn, or everyone else when the news got around. He decided that was a bad idea, him and Rachel's relationship was still kind of fresh and he didn't want anything to ruin what they had going for them.

* * *

**Sorry I updated this like a million times!**

**Thanks for reading & reviewing. :]**


	10. Chapter 10

They had been practicing for a good 20 minutes before they started making out for about an hour or so on his bed. Very productive night, on Puck's side of things. Now they were taking a break from kissing to look for more songs, it was Rachel's idea, of course. She wanted to stop so that they could accomplish more than they did last Saturday at her house.  
She was sitting at his desk on his laptop, searching online for different sheet music, while he looked through his cds trying to think of something that she might like too. He broke out of his thoughts when Rachel spoke up.

"That's okay Puck, you can go back to calling me Berry..."

What the hell was she talking about?  
He turned around and saw her sitting at his desk, his notebook sitting open.  
FUCK.  
That was not supposed to happen, he was mentally beating himself up for leaving that out and open. He didn't even care about that damn list anymore, he just also used that notebook for his history homework and just happened to be studying earlier! How the hell was he going to get himself out of this?

"Puck, what is this? Am I some type of game to you? I do not appreciate any prank you have ever pulled on me, but this... this is the worse" she trailed off, not even meeting his eye, he could see her tearing up and he wanted to hold her and erase the last 5 minutes of her memory, but she probably wouldn't have any of that.

"Rach, It's not like that, I mean... it was, but you know we happened and-"

"I don't get it, please,... please try and explain your way out of this one." She said sarcastically through tears.

"I, okay, just, let me think"

Wrong thing to say, she started crying harder and she would probably be running out of his house in tears if it wasn't for her shaking so bad.

"You know, it just it started out as me calling you Rach because it was Finn's nickname for you, but then it didn't take long before I was calling you Rach because it was _my _nickname for you!" He knew that sounded stupid but he had no way to explain himself.

"So. That's it? You and Finn were playing a game to see who could win me over? And so you -"

She couldn't talk anymore, she turned around and grabbed her things

"Stop! That isn't it at all!" He grabbed her arm, he couldn't let her walk out. He worked hard for Rachel, and he couldn't let the thing that started their relationship be the thing that tore them apart.

He decided to just go for it and explain it from the beginning,

"I...my mom.... she told me she wanted me to date a Jewish girl, and then I saw you the next day and you looked like an angel. And yeah, maybe at first I didn't have the best intentions, but you know how I was before you! And it helps me think when I make lists, and I don't know..." He wasn't sure if she could even understand what he what he said, he was talking so fast.

"I... I have to go, Puck"

"Rach... please" He pleaded, but it didn't work, she was already out of his room, making her way to the front door.

She stormed out of his house fast, setting off on the walk home. There was no way she would call one of her dads and explain what happened, nor would she go back in and ask Puck for a ride.

The wind was cold against her face, and it made the tears sting in her eyes. She couldn't help it, they started falling and there was no way of stopping them.

She was not looking forward to school tomorrow.

* * *

**Sorry, It had to happen. :/ It gets better I promise!**

**Also, sorry about the short chapter. We'll see, I might post the next chapter later tonight.**

**As always, thanks for reading and reviewing!**


	11. Chapter 11

Puck didn't even the the chance to say 2 words to Rachel today. They went over choreography again in the auditorium, and there wasn't much break time. After rehearsal she hid out in the girls bathroom for about 20 minutes just in case Puck was looking for her. He was probably rehearsing with Quinn right now and didn't even give her a second thought... she left the bathroom, and walked down the empty hallway to her locker.

She opened it [after redoing her combination 4 times] and just stared, she couldn't keep the thought of Puck's game out of her mind. The next thing on his list was probably to break her heart by flirting with Quinn right in front of her. She stuck her head in her locker as she felt the tears start falling again. She didn't know how long she was standing there until she heard a soft voice.

"Rach,... you okay?" It was Finn, he sound so sincere... so warm.

She turned to him and looked up.

"I think I'll be okay" she tried to smile, but it made her look sadder. Finn stepped closer to her, wanting to reach out to her but he knew he probably shouldn't.

"Do you want to talk?" she nodded her head after a pause, and closed her locker quietly. She grabbed her backpack and they started walking slowly, Rachel didn't know where they were going, she just followed Finn.

Walking with him seemed so relaxing. There wasn't any awkward silences or weird tension between them. They were just there, enjoying the silence while they could.

They stopped in front of the auditorium door, and Finn opened the door for Rachel, letting her walk in first.

By the time they got in, her tears had dried, she was hoping Finn wouldn't pry too much because she didn't want to tell him about what happened with Puck, she felt embarassed.

"So, what's wrong?" he looked at her seriously, she couldn't help but open up to him.

"...Puck... he made this list... and," she sighed, she was confused enough by all of it she didn't need to confuse Finn too.

"...I think... I think I was just a game to him," Finn's face changed, he looked angry; he told Puck to back off, and he warned Rachel. Neither of them listened, and now look what happened. He felt so bad for Rach, he knew how harsh Puck could be and Rachel was someone who did not deserve any crap from him.  
When he saw her eyes get teary again, he walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her. After these last few weeks he thought maybe Puck had changed for Rachel, but knowing this made him frustrated.

They stood like this until Rachel broke out of the hug, tears dried and smiled softly up at him.

"Rach," Finn broke the silence. He looked kind of sad when she looked over at him.

"do you think we will ever get solos again?" she paused, thinking about it. Sure they had to, right? I mean... everyone got a chance, surely enough they would get more chances,...right?

"I hope so, Finn. I mean, I'm sure we will. This is just one song, and maybe Mr. Schue will decided to go back to the way things used to be after it?" She said, trying to convince herself as well as him. She knew she was better than Quinn, but with all of the praise Quinn got from Mr. Schue, Rachel was pretty sure he liked her better.

"Yeah, you're right... I miss singing with you, Rach." she looked up at him and he had that cute smile on his face again, and she couldn't help but smile back.

"I miss it too." they smiled at each other until Rachel cleared her throat, breaking the silence.

"So, If you still want to practice with me...I picked out this song for us to work on. I think it will showcase the range in both of our voices,..." she pulled out her sheet music and walked over to the piano.

Finn followed her to the piano and sat down next to her on the bench. He scanned over the title of the song when she set up the music.

"I love this song!" he said happily, it was so cute how he could just forget his troubles when he got excited about something.

"Me too" she smiled back at him and placed her fingers on the keys. She normally didn't actually sing songs like this, but she had heard it on the radio the other night and it had made her feel like she could relate in some odd way. Like the song spoke to her or something.

"You ready?" he nodded at her and she started to play. As it got to the first verse, she nodded her head at Finn, signaling for him to sing first.

He sang the first verse and when Rachel joined in at the chorus, he looked over at her, and they were both smiling, forgetting how amazing they sounded together. It had been so long it seemed.

----

Quinn had been making advances to Puck all night and he was getting fed up with it. He kept thinking about Rachel and how he would make it up to her and apologize for the list, but Quinn was making it hard.

"I don't think I can take this anymore, Quinn"

"What? Singing the solo with me?"

"No."

"Then what?" he looked at her when she said this.

"You know... the.... whatever this is!"

"Rehearse? But this is only our second practice... I'm not _that_ bad." she smiled. He was getting annoyed, she knew exactly what he was talking about.

"No, I mean whatever shit you are trying to pull right now."

"Puck," she said softly, as if trying to seduce him.

"whatever_ this_ is, was obviously meant to be. Why else would Mr. Schue give us the solo?"

"Because he wants to show off everyone's talent?"

"Oh please, don't pretend like you don't like me Puck. You've been drooling over me since I started dating Finn"

"Things are different now..."

"I'm having your baby, Puck. Obviously things are different" He looked at her... she was right. But that's not what he meant.

"No, I mean- wait, so now it's _my_ baby?" He glared at her, she was like bipolar or something, she rolled her eyes and continued.

"You always knew it was yours, don't start with this."

"I'm going to go" he started to get up.

"...what?" She looked confused, she had been throwing herself at Puck and_ now_ he didn't want her? He looked down not able to meet her eyes. She was trying to read him, and then scoffed.

"It's Berry, isn't it?" He looked back up at her and nodded his head. When she saw this she shook her head and blinked back tears.

"God... what is it with this girl? First Finn... now you."

"I'm sorry Quinn"

"Yeah, whatever" She got up like it didn't mean a thing, and walked out of the room.

Maybe he would have wanted her a month ago, but things had changed. Maybe if she kept the baby he would change for her- no, for the baby. He would take care of both of them in a heartbeat as long as he could be a good dad to his kid. But he can still remember when she called him a 'Lima Loser', and it still hurts to think that she'd rather lie to everyone and say Finn is the dad instead of just admitting the truth. Rachel still wanted him [before the list anyways], even after he threw slushies in her face, made fun of her face, etc. He hated to sound girly, but Rachel saw something in him that no one else could see, not even the mother of his own kid and that made him feel good.  
He needed to tell Rachel about the baby, maybe if he opened up to her about what was going on with Quinn, and why he had been acting different since she got back... the real reason... everything would be okay. And he still had to make up for that stupid list too... but everything was going to be okay. He assured himself.

He got up and walked down the hallway, heading for his truck when he could hear the piano from the auditorium through the back doors.  
He had a feeling it was her, so he snuck in and shut the door quietly standing far in the back of the stage behind the curtains so she couldn't see him.

She was singing some song he had never heard before. It wasn't a song she would normally sing like Celine Dion, or something from some musical. It was odd hearing it from her, but it fit. He loved her voice, it made him smile thinking about her and how happy she always sounded when she sang. He was glad he chose her, maybe it might have been wrong, but it felt... right.

All of the sudden Puck heard a male's voice join in during the chorus, and his mind immediately went to Finn. He didn't forget that they were practicing tonight, but he figured they blew it off when Rachel disappeared after rehearsal. He had looked for her everywhere but couldn't find her.  
He walked closer to the curtain on the stage to where he could see Finn and Rachel sitting so close together their arms were touching. He glared but didn't interrupt them, they still hadn't realized he was there because he came up from behind. Not to mention now Rachel was hitting the piano keys so hard the vibrations seemed to echo forever. And their singing was so loud it probably would have been considered screaming if they weren't in tune.

She started playing the piano softer again, slowly coming down from the high she got from singing.  
She finished out the notes on the piano, playing much softer than she was a minute ago. When she stopped they looked at each other, they both still had their smiles plastered on their faces and they almost seemed out of breath.

"Wow, Finn! I forgot how great it wa-"

"What are you guys doing?" Puck finally spoke up because he did not want to hear Rachel go on about how amazing Finn was.

This startled them both, Finn jumped off of the piano bench as soon as he heard someone talk, and Rachel turned quickly to face Puck, still sitting on the bench.

"Puck, what are you doing here?" Rachel questioned politely.

"I just asked you the same thing" Puck retorted sternly, and Rachel rolled her eyes

"I should not have to explain myself, but I already told you... I had agreed to help Finn practice..."

"Well then you wouldn't mind me sitting in on this little _rehearsal_ of yours. Puck walked over and sat on the side of the bench that Finn had just jumped out of. He crossed his arms and smirked at Rachel.

"Actually, we do mind. Don't you have your own practice to attend to?" she stood up and grabbed the sheet music. Puck's smirk fell quick.

"Come on, Finn, let's go." She grabbed the handle of her backpack and started walking away in a huff. When she said this, Finn, who was trying to stay out of this drama, looked up.

"Where are we going?"

"I have a piano at my house, and my dads wont be home until late." Puck was furious after she said that, HE should be the one at her house while her dads were gone. He stood up and glared at Finn, daring him to go.

Finn glared back, thinking about how Puck hurt Rachel.

''Okay, I'll drive."

With that Finn and Rachel walked out of the room, leaving Puck standing alone on stage.  
End scene.

* * *

**Thanks so much for the reviews! They always make me smile, and are very appreciated! :]**


	12. Chapter 12

The next day Puck was annoyed with himself, he had to talk to Rachel. Hopefully her and Finn didn't fall back in love last night, because he really needed to apologize to her. Maybe he overreacted a bit when he saw them rehearsing together, but when Quinn had said _"First Finn... now you.",_ he realized that probably meant Finn was still smitten with Rachel. That's probably why Quinn had been so distant from Finn and came on to Puck... again.

He saw Rachel at the end of the hallway, their eyes met and he smiled, he saw her tense up, and clench her fists, stomping right over to him. She stopped in front of him, and before Puck could even think of something to say she spoke up

"How could you?" she stated very loudly. He looked around, she was making a scene and he had no idea what she was talking about.

"You are lucky I don't slap you right here, Noah Puckerman." she glared at him, and he still stared at her speechless, so she looked past him and stomped away.

Puck looked around, he just realized everyone was looking at him funny... and not only because of the scene with Rachel.

He ran up behind her and pulled her over,

"We need to talk!"

"Do we, Puck? Because I'm pretty sure I have nothing to say to you."

He pulled her into the empty music room

"What the hell is up with you?"

"Are you kidding me, Puck?" she sounded angrier than he had ever made her before.

"First that stupid list you decided was needed to give yourself the pleasure of humiliating me, and now.... now this."

"I already told you that list doesn't mean anything to me... and what now?"

"Last night when Finn and I were rehearsing,"

"You actually took him back to your house to rehearse?" She ignored him, and continued. This was no time to change the subject!

"I got an interesting call from Kurt. Turns out now the whole school is going to know Finn isn't the father" SHIT! He was panicking now. What the hell did she mean? The whole school is going to know??

"Quinn was a little emotional on the ride home with Brittany last night and let it slip that ... you," she looked away from him.

"are the father.... now the whole Cheerios squad knows, and they do enjoy good gossip every once in awhile. I'm pretty sure it's already on that stupid blog"

"Rachel, I was going to tell you all of this"

"Yeah, that would have been really nice to know!" she said sarcastically and continued

" And what about telling Finn? He has been dragged along in this lie with this huge burden put on his back, and it isn't even his!"

"It wasn't my idea! I wanted the baby! I wanted to own up to it, but it was Quinn's decision..." Rachel rolled her eyes.

"You boys are always bending over backwards for that girl."

"You know, she said almost the same thing about you." Rachel didn't say anything to that, what was she supposed to say?

"Rachel, please. I picked you over Quinn! I don't want to be with her..."

"The fact that she was even an option to you, while we were still dating, let's me know what kind of person you are Puck..." He looked at her sadly, this couldn't be it.

"That's not what I mean! I can explain!"

"You seem to need to explain a lot of things lately, and frankly... I'm not even interested in what you are going to say. I think.... I think the last couple of weeks were a mistake" She looked down, and she was sure he could tell it was a lie. She loved being with Puck, but she didn't want him to hurt her more. As they say; once a cheater, always a cheater,... right?

"You don't mean that..." No she didn't... and maybe she regretted saying that but instead of fixing it she turned around

"...I'm late for Math." and with that she stalked out of the room. Her and Puck were over, she was sick of all of his games, and she needed to stop forgiving him just because she liked the attention she got from him.

----

20 minutes before Glee rehearsal started, and Rachel was looking for Finn. She had saw him in the halls earlier, getting laughed at and pretty much running to all of this classes. But he hadn't shown up to rehearsals yet. She called his name through the locker room door, walked past his locker, she eventually found him sitting outside on the bench she normally sits on to wait for her dads. The parking lot had thinned out except a couple of teacher's cars, and the Glee students' cars.  
She walked over and sat down on the bench next to him.

"Hey" he spoke up first.

"Hi Finn... are you coming to rehearsal?"

"I don't know... I feel like I don't want to go back to school.... ever" She sat back, letting him know she would listen.

"It was the worst day, I walked around with everyone staring at me. You wouldn't believe how stupid people think I am now"

"You're not stupid Finn... you just trusted Quinn, and you didn't think she would be someone that would lie to you." he nodded his head and looked down.

"I'm sorry Rachel, I don't think I can go. I don't think I could face Quinn... or Puck. I feel like they both just played a horrible joke on me. It doesn't seem real... you know?" She knew exactly what he was talking about, maybe her situation wasn't as serious as Finn's but they were definitely similar.

"Yeah... I know...I don't think I want to face them either" he looked at her and smiled a little. She scooted closer to him, and he slid his hand into hers. She squeezed his hand softly, and then they sat there silently, until they noticed Glee rehearsal was about to start. They knew someone would come looking for them since they were both at school earlier that day,

"Do you need a ride, Rach?... Now that I know where you live and all," he smiled at her,

"I would appreciate that"

-----

Rehearsal was about to start, and Finn and Rachel were no where in sight. Her backpack was sitting next to her usual chair, but she wasn't and Finn being gone didn't help. He lost her. He lost fucking Rachel Berry to Finn. How could this have happened? It was all his fault, and he knew it. Now she was off with Finn, still thinking Puck was an asshole and he never got to explain himself.

He was so angry that he felt like he could punch something, the first thought that came to mind was Quinn when she walked through the door. She was the one who started all of this... luckily Puck didn't hit girls, especially pregnant ones.  
She saw him and looked down ashamed.

"Did you hear?"

"Uhm, yeah... I heard. Thanks for ruining my relationship with my girlfriend."

"It's not like I did it on purpose! I just got left at the school by you and my own boyfriend who went chasing after some freak. I didn't think Brittany would tell anyone... besides, I thought you wanted people to know... you were the one who was always bitching about it." She snapped angrily.

"No Quinn... I mean, yes I wanted people to know. But that is not how it should have happened, you should have told Finn straight out, and I... I should have told Rachel" Quinn rolled her eyes

"Well it's a little too late for that now" She crossed her arms over her chest, and glared at him.

"I don't think it is... it might take me awhile, but I'm going to fix this."

"You can't fix this, Puck. It's a baby, you can't just make it go away... at least not in a way that I would agree to."

"I don't mean the _baby,_ Quinn." she opened her mouth to retort but nothing came out. He turned and grabbed Rachel's pink backpack, and rolled it out of the room before Mr. Schue would notice he was ever there.

----

Rachel had invited Finn in, and after sitting around in sad silence for awhile, Finn was now laying over the couch constantly flipping channels. Rachel was eyeing Finn, he looked so defeated, and helpless. She wanted to make him happy again, she felt like she owed it to him for some reason. So Rachel offered to make chocolate chip cookies to make them both feel better.  
Their hands and arms were covered in flour, listening to music and singing as loud as they could, she hadn't had this much fun not making out in a long time it seemed like. The thought of Puck was still on her mind, but she was trying to ignore that sinking feeling she got when she thought about what she said to him.

"What's going to happen now?"

"What do you mean, Finn?" he looked down, trying to find the words.

"I mean... Quinn and I broke up, Puck and you broke up... I don't know" he shrugged, still not meeting her eyes.

"I'm not sure what will happen next, I wish I knew though" she replied honestly. She didn't know exactly what he meant, but she wish she knew what the future held

"Me too" he grabbed a piece of dough and popped it in his mouth. She looked at him oddly, and he shifted his gaze. Did he have chocolate on his face or something?

"What?"

"That can't be good for you!"

"Uh..." he was still confused

"You just ate raw cookie dough! It's got raw eggs in it, Finn!" he stared at her for a second and started chuckling, she almost had him worried there for a second

"It's just cookie dough, Rach! You've never licked the bowl clean before?" she looked at him in almost disgust after he said this.

"That sounds very unsanitary, I'm not sure I would be okay with that." he laughed again, and picked up a piece of dough. He held it up to her mouth, and smiled

"Come on, try it! It's good!" She opened her mouth and took a bite. If she died from food poisoning, he would be hearing from her lawyers. She closed her eyes at the taste, it was like heaven! Who knew that eating the dough could taste better than eating the cookie itself?

"See, it's good right?" she nodded her head in agreement, not able to talk from the sticky dough that was still in her mouth.

"It's delicious!" she stated once she swallowed

"I told you!" they both laughed. She loved that she could just have fun with Finn. Being with him definitely made her feel safe

She was about to turn around to check on the cookies but as fast as Rachel blinked, Finn's lips were on her own, giving her a soft kiss. It was so sweet and caring, nothing like her numerous make out sessions with Puck. The thought of Puck made her pull away from him.

"I... I hope that was okay." he looked down sheepishly. She nodded shyly because she didn't want to hurt his feelings. Besides, this is what she always wanted, right?

"Uhm.... is it okay if I kiss you again?" he asked, she looked down, not sure how to answer. She should say yes, this is how it was supposed to happen. Her and Finn together in the end, it was like her dream come true... then why did it feel so wrong? Luckily she was saved by the doorbell,

"Uh, I should get that," she pulled back fast

"I'll be right back!" she said as she jogged out of the kitchen.

She opened the door, surprised to see Puck standing in front of her, her pink backpack in hand.

"I forgot I left that at school, thanks" she said, avoiding his glance and reached for her backpack.

"Not until we talk... can I come in?" he started to take a step in, when she shook her head.

"Now is a really bad time, Puck"

"Now is better than later right?" he started walking in farther

"Uh-"

"Rachel, I think the cookies are burning!" they both heard Finn shout from the kitchen. Puck's soft expression turned into a glare.

"I thought that was Finn's car parked in the street... I should have known. What the hell are you doing, Rachel?"

"What I'm doing is none of your business, Noah. Thank you for my backpack, but I think you should go." he looked at her defeated, and handed her the bag.

She was about to close the door, when he held out his hand to stop it.

"Rachel..." he sighed and she melted.

"... I promise I'll explain everything. Please?" she looked at him, wanting to shout yes from the mountain top, but she knew she shouldn't. Everything was so confusing!

"...I'm sorry, Puck" she said sadly. He took a hint and dropped his hand from the door.

"I'm the one that's sorry." her heart stopped as he turned to walk back to his car.

If he was a chick, this is where you would insert the part about him crying. But he wasn't a chick, and he didn't cry over chicks. He was going to get her back, and there was nothing she nor Finn could do about it.

Rachel walked back into the kitchen to see Finn with potholders on both hands, trying to pick up a cookie from the sheet without burning his fingers. She chuckled a bit, which startled him and he turned around.

"I think I saved them just in time!" he smiled

"Oh good, I hate burnt cookies" she smiled back, and then turned to look through the drawers for a spatula to help him.

* * *

**I have to admit, I do like Finn/Rachel [not as much as I love Puck/Rachel, obviously] so for me it would be hard to get Finn and Rachel together just to break his heart in this end. So don't worry, this is the closest that Finn and Rachel get to being a 'couple' in my story.  
Pretty much, Finn sees the doubt in Rachel's eyes when he asks if he can kiss her again, even though he still wants her, he knows she doesn't feel the same about him anymore, so they just forget about the kiss and become closer. **

**I know the drama kind of weighs on the humor, so I'm sorry if it's a bit too much. I will just keep promising it gets better, and the next couple of chapters I really like.  
They won't get back together for a couple of chapters, but there are still some cute scenes with them together.**

**As always, thank you!!!!  
**


	13. Chapter 13

The next day at school the stares that Puck was getting were about to make him lose his cool. He had a lot on his mind and the fact that everyone now knew he was the father wasn't helping anything.  
He saw two basketball players walk over to him, and he was about to run the opposite way but he didn't want to seem like a pussy so he stood his ground and stared back at them.  
They closed in fast and before he knew what was happening he felt a cold burst of slushy hit him in the face.  
Did that just happen? Who the fuck dare throw a slushy in Noah Puckerman's face?  
He turned around fast, about to let out the anger he has been feeling through his fist meeting that guys face. But they were already down the hall about to turn a corner. He could hear laughter from all around him, and now he was pissed.  
He looked back over and saw Rachel standing at the end of the hallways staring at him in shock. Great, now she is going to think he's a loser. He slammed his locker shut and started to walk the opposite way down the hallway.  
He felt a small hand touch his arm and he turned around to see Rachel standing there. Most of the slushy had dripped off his face, now going down his shirt, and he was sure he looked ridiculous but he couldn't help but soften up when he saw her.  
There was silence between them before Rachel started pulling him to the bathroom.

They were both silent as Rachel washed the slushy out of Puck's hair. He had his eyes closed, thinking about how good her hands felt on his head, and trying to think of something to say. He was embarrassed, but he didn't want her to know that.

"I'm sorry." he spoke up quietly, and he felt the movement of her hands stop.

"For everything." he went on.

"I was an idiot for ever throwing slushies at you. They definitely don't feel as good as they taste when they are dripping down your pants." She tried to hide a small laugh, but he noticed and smiled, glad that he broke the tension a little bit before continuing.

"..I was an idiot for making that list." she pulled her hands away completely this time and he looked up at her as he lifted his head off of the sink.

"I was an idiot for lying about Quinn" he looked down ashamed. Could he be any more of a screw up?

He was staring down at his hands, wringing them uncomfortably, she still hadn't spoken up and he didn't want to get all sappy for no reason. She better forgive him.

He felt a weight on his leg and looked up, she sat down in his lap and was looking at him in the eyes.

"Noah..." his heart skipped a beat when she called him that. It was normally Puck, and hearing the softness in her voice after not talking to her for so long made him melt.

"After seeing people in the hallways stare at you, and hearing the girls in the locker room talk about what a pig you are," he sighed heavily after hearing this. Boy, did he love gossip.

"I realized how bad you had it."

"I mean, it's partly your fault of course. But I was only taking into consideration that Finn was the one being lied to. I was being selfish and I know you had no choice in the matter..." he looked back up at her. Would it be okay if they skipped this part and went on to making out again? His head felt cold without her fingers massaging him, or maybe because his hair was still wet...

"So, I guess I'm trying to say I'm sorry too." he reached up to run his fingers through her hair so he could pull her down into a kiss, but she stood up off of his lap to pull away.

He watched her as she walked back over to her back pack. Getting ready to head to class.

"Is that it?" She wasn't just going to leave him there with nothing, was she?

"Yeah, I think I got all of the slushy off. You look good as new" she smiled at him.

"Rach," he said and then paused, she was staring into his eyes intently waiting for him to say something, but no words would come out.

"I'll see you later." She replied, and with that she turned on her heel and walked out of the bathroom.

The spot on his leg where she had just been sitting felt cold now too, not to mention he was starting to get goosebumps. That bitch.

------

Every time he would catch a glance of her in the hallway, or see pink out of the corner of his eye and think it was her backpack rolling behind him and he would stop and stare. He wanted to kiss her so badly, he wanted all of this drama to stop and go back to the way things were right before they went South. He didn't want Rachel giving Finn anymore attention over the baby drama, he wanted her for himself.  
He needed her right now and she wasn't being fair not picking him. He broke out of his daze when he saw Finn glaring at him, it was the first time he had seen him since before the rumors got out. He looked angry, his fists were balled up and it looked like it was taking a lot of restraint on his part to not march over to Puck and give him a black eye. Puck felt that stupid guilt feeling in his stomach again, he knew what he did with Quinn was wrong. He never meant to hurt his friend in the first place, but he did and he got everyone into this situation.

The tension in the air was thick, everyone else in the hallway had stopped to watch the stare down.  
Finn had a million things running through his mind; Puck slept with his girlfriend behind his back, Puck is the father of his baby and lied about it, Puck made a fool of Rachel- that's it! With every new thought welling up inside of Finn's head, his body started to tense up and he walked up to Puck, lifted his arm up and swung at Puck with all of the strength he could muster.  
It was weird, Puck didn't even try to stop him. When he saw the look on Puck's face Finn could tell he was bracing himself for what was about to come.  
And what was even weirder was after the crack of Finn's fist colliding with Puck's jaw, and his head slamming back into the lockers from the impact, all Puck did was lift his hand to feel the spot where he just got hit. He didn't even make a move to hit Finn back.  
He watched Puck confused for a second, all of the anger in his body that was prepared for a fight left him when he realized there would be no fight. He caught Puck's eye and then turned away, continuing back down the hallway.

This whispers broke back out as soon as Finn walked away. Some of them were hoping for more of a fight, and others were shocked about the scene they had just watched.

Puck grabbed his back pack and headed for the bathroom again. He felt the stares on him as he rushed by but he didn't want to make eye contact with any of them, pretending he couldn't even tell they were there. Luckily no one else was in the bathroom and he set his backpack down and walked over to the mirror. He already had a huge bruise forming on his jaw line, and the back of his head was throbbing from where it hit the lockers. The whispers didn't help the headache at all.  
He looked pathetic. He couldn't even win over Rachel Berry, because when it came down to it she would pick Finn. Everyone would pick Finn. He sighed, when the hell did he start having emotions? He didn't know how he was going to play in the game tonight, Coach would be pissed if he missed another game, but what would he say when he showed up looking like this? He reached up to his bruise again and winced when his finger brushed against the soft spot. He deserved all of this, he reminded him self. He screwed up, no surprise, and he blew it with everyone. He lost his best friend, his girlfriend, his baby, his life. He was a screw up and everyone knew it. Even his mom.  
He chuckled sadly, remembering he never got to introduce his mom to his Jewish girlfriend.

* * *

**I love the reviews! I got more than I normally do for my last chapter which surprised me a bit. I was expecting everyone to hate me for the F/R kiss, but at least you know that's over with! **

**As I promised, a cute little Noah/Rachel scene, and there is definitely more to come. :]  
**

**Thank you! **


	14. Chapter 14

Puck's migraine had gotten worse by game time. He had spent all of his free time before the game with ice packs resting on his chin.  
He was right, Coach Tanaka called him out for his injuries in front of the whole team and he saw Finn look downward as if he felt bad or something.  
Coach didn't cut him any slack either, he let him play the beginning of the first quarter until he called him off because he wasn't running fast enough. He sat in silence on the bench for the rest of the game, his helmet still on because he didn't want people staring at the bruise on his face.  
After one last team huddle Puck turned back to sit on the bench and he saw her out of the corner of his eye. He did a double take, he couldn't really make out out the faces but he was sure it was her. He sat back down with a smile on his face going unnoticed by everyone because his helmet was doing a good job of hiding it.

-

The ending buzzer went off, they had lost.

After a lecture/very loud screaming from Coach, Puck ran off trying to see if he could catch Rachel before she left. He was still sure it was her, and he hoped she was there for him and not for Finn. He couldn't see Rachel through the crowd at all, he walked around a couple times before heading straight for his truck defeated.  
He got to the parking lot to see her leaning against his driver side door waiting for him.  
His heart started beating fast, he wanted to run over to her, grab her and pull her into a kiss. It would be like in a movie, the best kiss she had ever had. Finn would be the last thing on her mind.  
A boy could dream right?  
He walked up to her trying to keep his cool.

"Why are you still wearing your helmet?" she questioned.

He forgot about that, he had it on all night and was getting used to the warmth on his head. He shook his head and looked down, he didn't want to show her the bruise, he didn't want her to feel bad for him.  
She reached out and started lifting off his helmet slowly. She gasped when it was off and he looked over at her, she stepped closer to him and brushed her fingers along the outside of the bruise so she wouldn't hurt it. He shivered at the feeling of her fingers, and he _really_ wanted to kiss her right now.  
She pulled away when she noticed him staring at her lips,

"What happened?" she said a little angrily

"It's nothing, really" he said, and unconsciously lifted his hand to the back of his head.

"Noah Puckerman, tell me what happened this instant!" she demanded, he kept quiet.

"It wasn't one of those stupid jocks who threw a slushie at you was it?" he looked up at her, he didn't know why, but he didn't want her to know it was Finn. He nodded his head slowly, and she looked at him studying his face. He could tell she didn't believe him when she furrowed her brows and looked down, pulling a little farther away from him.

"I can't help you if you're going to keep lying to me, Noah" Fuck, he messed up again. He didn't want to lie, he just... fuck it.

"It was Finn." She looked up at him in shock, and after a pause she spoke up

"Are you okay?" he chuckled at her asking this question now.

"Besides half of my face turning this ugly green color, and my brain is beating so hard it feels like it's going to break through my skull, I think I'll be alright." he said sarcastically with a small smile playing on his lips. She still looked concerned, and reached up to look at the injuries on the back of his head.

"Did you check up with the nurse about your head? What if you have a concussion!? The bruising doesn't look too bad but I think I can feel a small bump forming. I cannot believe your coach let you play in this condition!" he started laughing harder when she started freaking out.

"It isn't funny Noah! You could be seriously injured!" she turned back to look him in the eyes.

When her eyes met his something happened. He didn't know if it was just the throbbing in his head getting to him, but he couldn't hear. All he heard was a faint buzzing and he felt like he was caught in a trance in Rachel's eyes. It wasn't until her lips started moving that his hearing slowly came back.

"Can you hear me, Noah?- Puck! This isn't funny, answer m-"

Before she could finish his lips were on hers. He tangled one of his hands into her soft hair that he missed so much, and set his other hand on her waist, pulling her closer. She stumbled a bit, breaking the kiss and caught herself with her hand on Puck's chest. She looked into his eyes, she definitely looked like she wanted to be kissed more.  
He ducked his head again and closed his eyes. But suddenly she wasn't in his grasp anymore. He looked at her sadly, was she teasing him or something? Letting him in and giving him sympathy until he got too close? She was playing mind games with him.

"What's the matter?" He wanted to reach out and pull her back towards him, but she was backed away too far now.

"I don't think... I'm not sure-" she was fumbling for words, but whatever she was trying to say didn't sound good. Puck narrowed his eyes.

"But you let me kiss you"

"I pulled away" her words stung more than she meant them too.

"Is this because of fucking Finn?" he said stepping towards her, _please don't say 'yes'_, was the only thought playing in his head. She looked down uncomfortable with the proximity.

"No." His heart swelled up, it wasn't because of Finn. Ugh she was killing him! Her lips were pouting, begging for him to bruise them with his own. Why wouldn't she let him kiss her then?

"Then what, Rach?" he reached out and brushed his finger down her hand. She gasped and pulled away from the feeling of his finger.

"I'm not sure it's a good idea right now..."

"Why not?" he was getting angry again

"You have no problem coming to Finn's rescue, but since I'm labeled as the bad guy in this situation you don't want to be with me?" he said harshly.

"No-"

"Poor little Finn got lied to, but Puck is just the asshole who impregnated the good girl." he was fuming.

"Noah, stop."

"I'm the Lima Loser who is never going to get out of this hell hole. I'm going to be stuck here forever wondering who is taking care of my baby." He was fuming, he wouldn't be surprised if smoke was coming out of his ears.

"It isn't fair, Rach!" his voice cracked a bit when he said this, and he realized he needed to get out of there before he either punched his own truck out of anger, or started crying like a girl.

"You're not a loser-" she stepped towards him wanting to hold his hand and make him feel better too. What did she do?

"You know what, I don't have time for this shit right now." He looked at her straight in the eye, he saw her tense up at his anger. She flinched when he lifted his hand to his door handle. Seriously? Did she think he was going to hit her or something?

"If you would kindly get out of my way, I'd like to go home now, Berry." she flinched again at him calling her Berry, and she tried to stand her ground, but she felt so defeated, she stepped out of the way and watched him get into his truck and drive off, not even taking a second glance towards her.

She walked back over to the field and saw Finn, he waved kind of sadly and walked over to her.

"Ready to go?" he asked

"Yeah, I'm ready" and she followed him over to his car and got in, this was the start of a very quiet drive.

Rachel had a million things going through her mind, all of them involving Noah Puckerman. She had always dreamed of going to Finn's football games and being the good girlfriend to cheer him on, but she knew she only agreed to go with Finn to see Puck. She missed him so much, even if she tried not to admit that to herself. His kiss was so sudden, but feeling his lips on her own made her forget about everything that had just happened in the last week, it was like that was all she needed to forgive him. But that's not how it's supposed to work, right?  
As soon as she had stumbled out of the kiss, she felt longing for him. She wanted to jump back into his arms, but for some reason she didn't, and now she regretted it. And Rachel Berry never has regrets! It broke her heart seeing him so upset about it, she knew she did something wrong when she saw the look on his face. She wanted him to know it definitely wasn't about Finn, and whatever happened between Noah and Quinn awhile ago has nothing to do with her...

"Rach, you okay?" Finn broke her out of her thoughts, and she realized they were parked at her house.

"Yeah, sorry. Just lost in my own thoughts.."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

'No, I should be going. I'll see you Monday, Finn!" she quickly said as she slid out of the car and shut the door before he could speak.

* * *

**OMG, they kissed!! Yay, right?! We're getting closer! :]**

**Thanks so so so much for the reviews! I'm glad you guys liked Puck's POV in the last chapter, hopefully it was believable and not too sappy. **

**Happy Glee watching tonight! Yay! :D  
**


	15. Chapter 15

_**I'm not sure how 'story alerts' work, but I just updated chapter 15 and 16 to fix a couple of spelling mistakes. I apologize if you get an alert for them again, there was nothing new story-wise that was added, so don't worry about re-reading or anything. :] **_

* * *

Puck spent the whole weekend in his room, he actually finished all of his homework because he was so bored. His phone was laying on his desk, dead. He hadn't even attempted to charge it because he didn't want to talk to anyone. He was sure no one was bothered enough to call him anyways.

-

Not true, Rachel had called him twice Friday night, three times on Saturday and eventually settled on sending him a text message Sunday night that simply said "I'm sorry". She felt horrible, she didn't mean to invoke all of those feelings in Noah, and she certainly didn't think he was a Lima Loser.

------

Monday at school Puck's bruise seemed to be darker than ever, and he decided it would just be best to keep his head down and ignore the stares.  
He had been avoiding Rachel since the game Friday night, but she had been all that was running through his head all weekend, and the thought of her still hadn't stopped when he got to school. How could someone make him feel so good about himself, and yet so bad about himself? Puck hated thinking about her because he knew she was probably thinking about Finn. He screwed up, and when he lashed out at Rachel that was probably the end of it. He hadn't meant to get so angry, his feelings had just been welled up inside of him and they burst out without him even giving them a second thought. It was like every time she pulled away another knife stabbed him in the gut.  
He heard some of the baseball players shouting down the hall and turned to look and see Finn about to get cornered by 3 of them.

-

Finn was at his locker when loud laughter brought him out of his daze.

"Hey virgin!"

"What's up, virgin?!" two of them shouted to him. he looked back down trying to ignore them, but he felt his cheeks burning.

"How's your Jesus baby doing?" Finn looked back up in confusion, and noticed the other 2 were looking at their friend with the same confusion..

"You know... virgin birth?!" the other 2 guys started laughing again and gave each other high fives before walking back down the hallway.

When he took his eyes off of him, he noticed people staring again. Most of them snickering except Puck who was just standing there, looking like he wanted to speak up. Finn saw something in Puck's eyes, like understanding and guilt and Finn nodded his head at him. Puck nodded back casually in reply.  
Hearing the snickering again he stormed away in a huff, he wasn't going to let them get him down.

He saw Rachel standing at her locker and walked up to her, he knew she would be there for him and he felt like talking to someone.

"Hey Rach" he said sadly, and she looked up in concern.

"How are you holding up Finn?" she said as she took her last book out of her locker and shut the door.

"Well I thought the staring would die down by now, but it's almost gotten worse" he said as they started walking down the hallway.

"I'm sorry Finn, you don't deserve this"

"Thanks Rach," she smiled

"I mean it, you're a really great friend"

"You are too, Finn. This is not the time to doubt yourself because these stupid high schoolers feel the need to pick on your weakness" She looked at him seriously, she knew what it was like to be the center of the ridicule and she hated to see her friend have to go through the same thing from people he might have once considered his friends.

He pulled her into a hug in front of her classroom, he held on tight because he felt like she was the only thing he had left right now.

"I'll see you around, Rach"

"Bye Finn" she turned and walked into her classroom.

----

It was Wednesday and Rachel had never missed not having friends so much before. She liked Finn, she really did, but he kept following her around like a lost puppy all day sulking and it was getting to be too much. She knew he needed her- needed a friend, so she was happy to oblige. The only thing was that this meant she couldn't talk to Noah, which she has been wanting to do more than anything after last Fridays game.  
She knew he was at school, sometimes she could would catch him staring between her and Finn before he would turn and go the opposite way. She wished he wouldn't, and she wished Finn wasn't always by her side, giving him the wrong impression.

-

Puck had been doing a great job of not running into Rachel all week, he had spotted her a couple times in the hallway [with Finn, of course] but whenever he did, he would make sure to turn and go the opposite way before she noticed him. Today was going to be different because now he had to see Rachel. Glee rehearsal started in 30 minutes and he was sure she wouldn't skip again.  
He was feeling kind of nervous, and unprepared. He didn't want to face all of the glee kids mocking him like everybody else was. He didn't want to walk in and see Rachel glaring at him, or making those puppy dog eyes at him, or worse... like making out with Finn or something. Puck shuddered at the thought.

"Hey" Puck jumped out of his thoughts and turned to see Finn standing behind him. He didn't say anything, should he prepare himself for getting another punch in the face?

"Ow, that looks like it hurts... sorry about that." Finn looked down, after eyeing his bruise, he really felt bad. Puck was surprised, why the hell did Finn have to be this good guy and apologize to him for something like that?! He deserved it!

"You really shouldn't be." Finn looked back up at him in surprise. Puck sighed, this is probably going to be one of the most awkward apologies he had ever made, Finn better appreciate it!

"I deserved it... I'm sorry for,..." he cleared his throat and Finn held up his hand to keep him from continuing.

"I know. I realized I might be partly to blame for that mess. I do care about Quinn, I just..." Finn shook his head, he didn't need to go into those details now. Puck looked at him weirdly this time, he was just going to forgive him like that? This couldn't be right...

"Listen,..." Finn sighed, not sure if he should go on..

"Rachel," Finn looked up and saw Puck flinch.

"She's a really good person. If I hadn't been such an idiot to her in the past, I would snatch her up in a second and never let you have a second glance." Finn noticed Puck looked like he was going to get angry, so he continued on, talking faster to get his point across sooner.

"But something about her just isn't the same anymore, and I think it's me- or rather... you" Finn looked down a little embarrassed.

"She has been a really great friend to me, and if you hurt her anymore, I swear you will regret it." He finished seriously, and then looked into Puck's shocked eyes for a second before walking away to the music room.

Puck stared at Finn as he walked away, what the hell was he talking about?

-

He walked into the music room with 30 seconds to spare before rehearsal started, he wanted to put this off as long as possible.  
Everyone was settling down in their seats, and the glares and whispering he was expecting never came, in fact no one really realized he had walked into the room because they were all lost in their own conversations.  
He didn't realize he was still standing in shock, waiting for someone to throw a tomato or something when Mr. Schue came up behind him.

"Why don't you take a seat, Noah" as he gestured towards the chairs.

He looked back and saw 1 empty chair, next to Rachel. But it was Finn's chair... Finn was there today he saw him in the hallway earlier. He scanned the room and saw Finn sitting on the other side of the room, talking to Artie. Quinn was in the row behind him, staring longingly at Finn, but of course that said boy was a little too clueless to realize that.

His hands started to get clammy and he sat down next to her, neither of them acknowledged the others presence. They just stared ahead as if they didn't know each other.

-

Rehearsal took forever to go by it seemed, and it didn't help that all they did was read from new sheet music. Hearing Rachel's voice sing so close to him again gave him shivers.  
When it was over he packed up his stuff and bolted out the door. He started walking slowly once he got to the doors to outside, he was lost in his own thoughts and he felt like he didn't have control over his brain anymore. He started feeling a little dizzy and sat down on the closest bench.  
He didn't realize why he was doing this until he heard the noise of wheels rollings towards him. She stopped in front of the bench, eyeing him slowly, he still hadn't looked up at her so she sat down and tried to ignore him.  
He looked up when he felt her sit down and then he couldn't stop looking. It had only been about 4 days since he really looked at her, and he decided he missed it.  
She looked up to meet his eyes when she felt his stare. They didn't break contact until she spoke up.

"Waiting for a ride?" she asked quietly. She knew he wasn't because she could see his truck sitting alone in the parking lot.

"No." a moment passed before he spoke up again.

"Do you need a ride?" She looked at him again, and nodded because she wasn't sure if words would come out even if she tried.

They walked in silence to his truck and he walked to the passenger side door, throwing his and her backpack into the back seat, he stepped out of the way and let her climb into the truck, closing the door behind her. The drive was silent, but if you could hear the voices in their heads you would probably get a headache from all of the thoughts running through their minds.  
He pulled into her driveway and put the car into park. She wanted to speak up, but still didn't know what to say so she unbuckled her belt, and was about to open the door when she felt his hand rest on top of her own.

"Rach, can we talk?" she looked at him. _YES! Of course!_ She wanted to scream, but her silence sent the wrong message.

"Please?" he pleaded.

"You can come in, if you would like." he looked at her, and she saw the hope in his eyes that made her want to wrap him up in her arms and never let him go.

He nodded his head, and let go of her hand. He grabbed her backpack out of the back seat and carried it up to the door for her.

Once they got inside, she went to the kitchen to get them something to drink while he made himself comfortable on her living room couch.

She came back in and watched him before making her presence known. He looked deep in thought, like he was trying to plan all of the right things to say so he would say anything stupid. He noticed she was in the doorway and smiled at her.  
She came and sat down on the other side of the couch and took a sip of her water nervously.

"About friday night..." he started

"Noah, could you forgive me? I didn't mean to make you so upset! I guess I just didn't think before I spoke, but I couldn't help it your kiss left me so confused and..." she trailed off

"Please listen, Rachel. You have nothing to be sorry about." he sighed.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking, which you know isn't what I normally do best. But I didn't mean to lash out at you, I just felt like everyone was turning on me and when I saw you it gave me hope that you were still there for me." He was breaking her heart! When did this boy start making her feel so bad about her actions?! She was Rachel Berry, she always did the right thing, right?

"And then I kissed you... which I'm also sorry about, I think my head injury was getting the best of me,"

"But when you pulled away and said no, I just lost it, and I want you to know it had nothing to do with you." She nodded her head silently at his words.

What did that mean? Did she forgive him? Should he keep talking? Why were apologies always so awkward? Well he had a lot to apologize for, so better make a night of it.

"And the list..." she looked up at him, she had almost forgot about all of that with everything that happened this last week. She opened her mouth to tell him she understood, but he kept talking anyways.

"I was an ass before you, well afterward too, but I just wanted you to know that I didn't even take a second glance at it once we kissed after your first football game" he smiled slightly, remembering.

"And I didn't have the best intentions when I wrote out that first step, but the farther along I got I realized I really wanted you." He was making himself sick with the words he was speaking. Why did he sound like such a sap?

"Noah, please," she rested her hand on his knee and looked into his eyes.

"I know." her tone was soft, but serious. He didn't know what else to say so he reached out his hand and laid it on top of hers. When she didn't pull away, he wrapped his fingers around her small hand and he wasn't going to let her go until she said she would be his.

"Oh no!" Rachel shot up from the couch.

"What now?" he sighed, couldn't she just forgive and forget at least for a little bit?

"You need to get out of here." She turned and said seriously.

"What, you got a date with Finn or something?" He said it jokingly, but he hoped it wasn't true.

"No! My dads are going to be home from work soon! No boys allowed over when there is no parental guidance!" He started laughing at the serious look on her face. She was just too cute!

"Noah Puckerman! Get off that couch and go before you get a lecture from my fathers!" Okay, now he was scared. He jumped off the couch in front of her and looked at her, wanting to do something. Did he have time for a kiss?! Before he knew it her hands were on his chest, pushing him backwards out of the living room.

"Alright, Berry, chill! I can walk!" He turned out of her grasp and headed for the door. Before he opened it he turned and winked at her, taking his time so as to freak her out.

"Goodbye Noah"

"Bye Rach." and after he shut the door he ran to his car and backed out a little too fast. He really didn't want her dads to see him at all and get suspicious.

* * *

**Finally forgiven! Now that that's out of the way, what's next?  
**

**As always, thanks for the reviews! :]**


	16. Chapter 16

Thursday came around and Puck was feeling good. Besides Rachel rushing him out of her house last night, he was pretty sure she still had feelings for him. _How could she not?_ Things seem to have went well and he was hoping she would feel the same today.

He was walking down the hallways, minding his own business when he heard the guy walking in front of him shout "Whore!" Puck looked up to see who his comment was meant for, and saw Quinn standing sadly by her locker, not able to defend herself.  
He felt pissed off, and before he had time to think he reached out and shoved the guy in front of him. The guy stumbled back and Puck turned to Quinn and saw gratitude in her eyes, like for the first time she appreciated him.  
Before he could ask if she was okay, he felt a hard shove on his side and he stumbled backwards. He would have fallen if it wasn't for the firm grasp he felt on his arm. He thought it was Quinn at first, but looked down to see Rachel's tiny hand on his bicep.  
He looked down at her and wanted to say something but he heard Finn speak up,

"What's going on?" he got up in the guy's face, who was still trying to lunge at Puck.  
"Why are you stopping me? That asshole got your slut of a girlfr-" before he could finish Finn pulled back and punched the guy so hard he fell over.

Puck wanted to laugh at the look on the guy's face, it looked like it hurt worse than the punch Finn threw his way last week.

Quinn's eyes brighten when Finn turned back to her and asked if she was okay.  
He felt the hand on his bicep tighten and he looked back down at Rachel. It made him smile, finally having her on his arm again. Never mind what had just happened. He started walking away, pulling her with him and she didn't let go this time.

"That was very gracious of you, Noah" she started before he cut her off. This needed to happen, and he needed to do it now before he lost it.

"Rachel, I really think you should be my girlfriend." She looked at him surprised, she knew he still liked her, but his comment was so out of the blue it took her by surprise. When she didn't speak up, he continued, as if he needed to explain why.

"Our voices sound great together, you're the only dance partner that can keep me on beat, you talk a lot which means I don't have to, and ... I like _practicing_ on weekends,... in either one of our beds." He smirked as he looked over at her out of the corner of his eye. She was blushing, not paying attention to anything else going on around them.

"And let's face it, you know you can't deny my hotness." He turned to look at her in full with that smirk still on his face, he knew what he was doing. He slid his hand softly down her arm to intertwine their fingers together. He loved the way her small hand fit into his.

"I think you're right." She stated through a smile. He looked over at her and then leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. He had been waiting so long for her to be his again, and now that he finally had her he wasn't going to let her out of his grasp for anything. She squeezed his hand and he returned it as they stopped in front of her last class of the day.

"I'll see you in rehearsal" He said before he brushed his lips against hers. She closed her eyes tight wanting him to deepen the kiss, and then she remembered they were in the middle of the school hallway. PDA was not her thing... She pulled back and smiled, nodding her head in reply before she stepped into her classroom. Her wide smile got wider as she thought of everything that just happened. Things seemed right again.. She found her seat and stared up at the clock, waiting for the last bell to ring so she could see him again.

---

Glee rehearsal went over smoothly today. Quinn stepped down from her solo with Puck because she knew she couldn't keep up with the dance moves once she started growing. Rachel happily took her place again.  
Puck was kind of hoping they would practice it because he hadn't performed with Rachel in so long, he missed it. _Wow, he was seriously turning into such a gleek._  
Instead they went over new sheet music so Mr. Schue could decide which Ballad they would perform for Sectionals. He didn't mind that either because he still got to hear Rachel's voice, and every now and then he'd throw her a smirk and she'd reply with a faint blush, and a huge smile.

They were walking to his truck, he was pulling her backpack for her, and she had her arm linked through his free arm.  
She still had that huge smile on her face, and he was wondering why she seemed so happy... besides him, of course.

"What are you smiling at?"

"Oh just... it's nothing."

"What!? Now you have to tell me!" He said jokingly.

"Well it's very sweet of you to take my backpack off of my hands, but... before all this- before us, I would have never imagined seeing Noah Puckerman rolling around a pink backpack." She giggled a bit as she said this, and he smiled at her. Well, he never really thought of it that way, it just seemed easier.

"What, are you doubting my manliness? Because I'm pretty sure I pull it off."

"No no, that's not it at all." She giggled again and he stopped to lean down and give her a quick kiss. Then he pushed the handle back down into the backpack and grabbed the handle on the side so he could carry it like a suitcase as they continued walking. He didn't want to look like a wuss.

"So if you're not doing anything tonight, maybe we could get together to... rehearse. Of course" She had a flirty smile playing on her lips, and he smirked, knowing her implications. He stopped in the middle of the hallway and dropped his arm from hers so her could wrap it around her waist and pull her closer. Their lips met she turned to goo when he softly ran his finger tips up her back. He dropped the backpack out of his other hand and slid it through her hair to rest on the back of her neck. She wrapped her own arms around his neck and deepened the kiss after nibbling his bottom lip. Wow, she sure knew how to take charge when she wanted too. His heartbeat sped up, and he was sure he could feel her's pounding against his chest too. He slowly pulled out of the kiss, both of them out of breath. Her eyes fluttered open to look at him when he finally replied,

"My place or yours?"

* * *

**And that's how you win over Rachel Berry. ;P**

**I wasn't sure how I wanted to go with the story after this so I decided it was a good place to end it. I went over this chapter so many times, changing things, and trying to make it perfect, and that was what I ended up with.**

**Thank you again to everyone who kept up reading and reviewing! This is the first fic I've ever written, and I really appreciated the feedback and lovely comments!  
Happy holidays!  
**


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